Titanium
by Vanya Merilwen
Summary: Her body burns with an insatiable flame. She's driven by a hunger to protect this world and to make amends to the mistakes she's made. Can she do those things when Loki threatens to kill all? But she's not human, nor are most of her friends. The Tesseract is not in their hands, but she and her best friend have a great power that is useful. They can win. They are The Avengers.
1. A New Way To Bleed

| 1 |

| A . N E W . W A Y . T O . |

She wished they would have given her some form of warning. They had promised her years ago that they would leave her be, let her wallow in her party of agony, and that they wouldn't interfere with anything that she needed to do. Or what she wanted to do, even. It wasn't as though they could physically stop her anyways. She completed the missions they asked of her to complete and she did so silently, swiftly, pulling them all off without a hitch. It almost could have been suspicious at how easily and quickly she terminated the tasks she had been given, but they knew her. Their file on her was long enough to require its own filing cabinet. This file was by no means to be used to blackmail her, unless it got into the wrong hands of course, but it was for the safety of practically the entire world.

The brunette's strands bounced around her shoulders as she paced unevenly beside the wall, much like an animal being watched or hunted. It was how she felt. The energy the glowing blue cube was emanating was giving her goose bumps, causing every fine hair upon her slender body to rise in alarm. It made her uneasy, smoky grey eyes trained on it intently no matter which way she moved. Every orange fleck within the grey coloration flickered, threatening to release a flame at any given moment in time. Her eyes were like the burning cinders of a fire that had just been put out, but like those cinders, even the smallest amount of wind could cause it to burst into flames. At her rate of discomfort, it was only a matter of time.

The murmur of the scientists and agents within the room was an annoying buzz, irritating her as she attempted to keep her focus trained on the cube. It was the Tesseract, the jewel of Odin's treasure room. It was a very dangerous and powerful. As she allowed her thoughts to ponder over what powers it did hold, something told her it was not meant to be in the possession of humans, and that something was her own demon. She was the latest carrier of Carmen, a massive black wolf covered in tribal markings colored shades of red. Her eyes were the color of fire, the element she controlled. Most of her fur was as black as the crystals she could create for offense and defense. Of course, she was not exactly aligned with the good of the world, but the Tessaract was a serious deal.

Carmen was thousands upon thousands of years old. She was aware of who Odin was, just as her three siblings were. After all, they were Odin's pets, but Carmen had gone out of control too many times and had posed a threat to more than one race. Odin had banished her to Earth many, many years ago, trapped within a human body as punishment. The wolf hadn't taken much liking to any of her other vessels and would often find a way to get them killed, though these were things she couldn't do on her own. Her silver-tongue and clever thinking process mostly forced them to commit suicide or get involved in things that would definitely kill them. With this current vessel, however, Odin warned if she died, then he would forever trap Carmen in her least favorite place: a never ending abyss where she would see no one, hear no one, and be forever alone.

"Is that…creature on the fritz again, Aimee?"

The question slightly startled her, and she whipped around to find SHIELD's Director there. She nodded at him once or twice, "Yes. She's as antsy as I am to have this thing in the same room as us. We don't like being stared at, either. Why am I here, Nick? You and S.H.I.E.L.D. promised to leave me alone."

Nick Fury sighed, appearing tired even from behind his eye patch. "Yes, I am aware we promised we would leave you in isolation seven years ago, as long as you did the missions we needed you to do."

Aimee paused in her walking, hands resting on her hips, fingers gripping at the stretchy fabric of the long sleeved red shirt. "Why are we here, though?"

"There is something we are planning, something you may not like, but something we need you for." He felt his chest weigh down at her disapproving expression. "You will find out in due time, but you have to trust me. We really need you for this one."

She merely shook her head, walking alongside him to approach Erik. "I hope so, Director, otherwise you'll have a rather large mess on your hands to clean up."

"And I hope it does not come to that, Miss Serasio." He noticed the young brunette turn her face away from Erik as they came to him, possibly avoiding the stare the doctor sent her way. "Doctor, what's going on?"

Erik hesitated a moment, his eyes locked on the girl for a moment, but answered quickly, "The Tesseract is acting up. She's behaving. We can't pull the plug on her because she's a self-sustaining energy source. We turn the power off, she turns it right back on."

Nick stood over the man while he messed with the readings upon the screen of the computer. "You have been working for months to harness this endless power source. I suggest you do so before this thing implodes on us."

"Yes, I have been working on it. I have been working arduously for months since you called me onto this project, but I can't do it." He paused, almost embarrassed, but continued regardless, "My calculations are far from complete. There are gaps and holes as large as the Grand Canyon in them because I don't know what it is. She emits gamma radiation, not anything harmful."

Aimee snorted from where she stood a few feet away, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, fingers continually scratching at the fabric of her shirt, "That can be dangerous, and I never wanted to be near that thing."

Her nervous stance spoke volumes to some people in the room, those people being Nick and Clint Barton. The latter was known better as Hawkeye to some people, infamous for his impeccable eyesight, skill, and ability to shoot an arrow without missing. The man had come down from his perch in the far corner of the room, where he had been sitting upon a platform high above ground, and he had slowly circled his way to Nick's other side. His careful eyes surveyed Aimee, watching every odd movement she made. To him, she was being suspicious, as though she had done or was about to do something they wouldn't like. That, or she knew something was about to happen. Nick, on the other hand, knew her antsy movements were just a part of her nature.

Aimee had long removed herself from the world after a horrible incident she was the cause of around seven or eight years ago. For several years, she hadn't been sure what to do with herself, wandering about the world. She saw things, took in beautiful sights, learned different languages, and her favorite thing had always been the food. However, she had been lonely and lost, but on purpose. S.H.I.E.L.D. had never lost track of her, and eventually started sending her on mission they were aware only she could complete without a problem. She did so up until this point, because they had promised to leave her alone if she did as they wished of her. Here she was now, though, in the last place she wanted to be with the last thing she wanted to be near.

_'The Tesseract is unsettling __**her **__the most...' _The thought ran through her head again and again.

Erik walked off to speak with another scientist, and Clint spoke up to Nick, "There has been no tampering from this side, sir. Dr. Selvig and the others check out clean." His eyes were still trained on her.

"If you are insinuating I am having something to do with this, little bird, you are sorely mistaken." Aimee merely smiled at him to prove her point, her gaze still twitching to the cube every now and then, waiting for it to do something. "Something is going to happen, though. I can feel it."

"You mean_ she_ can feel it? And what do you mean "no tampering from this side", Clint?"

"You need to give me more credit." She beat Clint to the punch, proving nothing in particular, just that she knew more of the cube, "The Tesseract is a gateway not only to unlimited power, but it is also a door to the other end of space. Most of the time, where in space it is opened is opened and how long it remains there is unknown. Doors open from both sides, though."

"Most of the time?" Nick asked her, his hands resting on his hips at her curt answers as he took note to her growingly tense stance. "And you're saying someone else is trying to come through the Tesseract?"

Aimee nodded, feeling her muscles tighten with further uneasiness, not only from the stares she was receiving intensely as she spoke, but from the rising energy in the cube, "The cube can be controlled by the right person with the right elements. Otherwise, it is just something that will burn you. But, yes, someone is possibly trying to get through from the other side. Don't ask me to tell you who and from where, because I don't know. I know a lot about this goddamned thing, but I'm not that good."

"Then why are you so twitchy? You act as though you've done something wrong."

She shot a sharp glare at the man wielding the quiver, "Forgive me, Agent Barton, if I am not exactly a fan of being stared at, especially after being in isolation for nearly a decade. It's rather rude to stare and I would prefer you all stopped before…" Darkness flickered over her vision, momentarily stealing her from them, but she resurfaced quickly, "The Tesseract just makes me uneasy. The energy it gives off, specifically in those massive doses, tends to make me feel a little green around the gills."

"If that isn't a lie, I don't know what is."

"Call it what you want, little bird. At this point, it's best everyone remain on my good side."

Nick cut in, abruptly halting anything the man was about to say in retaliation, "I hate to disagree with you, Clint, but she is right. We need her on this case, so I suggest you just go along with what she says unless I tell you otherwise."

Aimee chuckled, taking a step to the side. "Oh, please, Nick. You don't have to pull that with me. I know they all know what I am. They've all read my file, as long as it is. Of course, you just gave them the synapses of what's happened in the whole forty-three years of my life. There are many things from the words within those papers that could make them stare. Is it the demon? Is it because I still look twenty? Or is it the fact that they know any little thing could set her off and one moment of lost focus from me could result in mass destruction?"

There was something of a stunned silence in the room, her dead-on estimation having shocked them all out of words. She had not originally intended to do so. She had meant to keep quiet, to go along with the awkward flow of the situation, and certain things still did not play out into her favor. She knew how S.H.I.E.L.D. operated quite well. They weren't about to stick anyone in a room with her without debriefing them on what she was and basically what she had done. Most people refused to look past the fact that she was carrying a monster of millennium within her and see the girl she really was. She wasn't necessarily a killer or a fighter or anyone that even remotely harmed a fly. There was something rather contradicting about her reputation as the Black Rose and how she really felt:

She hated violence.

Hatred was another thing, though. That was something on a completely different level of emotions. It was a gathering of feelings jumbled into one massive pile, a chemical mixture meant to create chaos, war, and, from there, breed itself further into the world. She had come to the conclusion long ago that if hatred was an emotion that never existed, then there would be no such thing as wars, battles, fights, or even petty arguments. A simple disagreement, perhaps, but nothing so miniscule could ever create something as a full-blown war unless the subject was dragged on and through the mud. Only then would hatred implant its seed within the hearts of others and grow to be a noxious, annoying weed that was difficult to exterminate.

The silence made her smile; she had stumped them because she knew something they believed she was clueless about. "Let's just stop pretending. I agreed that while I would be here to help keep an eye on the cube and do whatever else it is you want me to do, that you would give me a stress-free environment. Now, being around the cube isn't the most stable place for me to be, I do it anyways. You have my permission to shoot me to the ground if I lose it…" She trailed off.

"But?" Clint continued.

Aimee hesitated with her words, glancing over at him, "But I cannot promise shooting me to the ground will work. She's a lot stronger than I am. A bullet won't do much damage."

"We are prepared for that." Nick assured her in a firm tone. "There is no n—"

His sentence was abruptly cut short when a rumbling flowed from the Tesseract, shaking the ground beneath them as power built within one end of the machine harnessing it. The people in the room attempted to steady themselves, though a few devoted scientists who cared not for their safety were glued to their monitors, tracking the changes in the shining object. Aimee could feel an intense pressure on her shoulders and her chest, the kind that came around whenever Carmen decided she wanted out of her cage. In this place and in this time, though, the wolf's host kept her cool and easily denied the beast the ability to do so. It was difficult for Aimee to lose control, but it had happened before and she was afraid of it happening again, even though she had gone a few years without losing her own reigns of control.

The energy had piled to the front of the machine, swiftly blasting to the other end of the room in a bright beam, landing directly upon the supports that had been built for this purpose. A wide portal opened, a film of blue in the shape of a ring around the perfect picture of space, indicating a door had just been opened. Whether something was about to step through it or not, Aimee couldn't be sure at that point, but the horrid feeling in her stomach weighed her down as though there were boulders there. She knew something bad would happen; she could practically smell it on the strange winds created by the door, which blew tufts of her loose hair around her face. It made her nauseas and she feared the things that would be coming of the odd reaction.

The portal disappeared nearly as fast as it had come, a blinding light flashing at them as in imploded. Stray strands of bluish energy drifted to the ceiling that curved like a dome above the supports, pooling into a ball and floating as a balloon would. While that was concerning, it was not what her focus was concentrated on. Upon the platform of the supports knelt a man, hunched over with a staff in his hand, and his head slowly rose just enough to gaze out at everyone else with a wicked grin upon his face. Everything about him spoke bad news, and a shiver of sheer ice ripped down her spine. Her eyes flamed fluorescent red as Carmen felt the man's presence, a growl slipping past the brunette's throat. If there was something in the wolf's mind that made her not trust the man carefully getting to his feet, then Aimee had no reason to believe differently.

Nick cast a concerned glance at her, but held his gun in front of him and aimed at the man as he issued a warning, "Sir, please put down the spear."

Aimee struggled to breathe, fighting with the wolf, fighting with every inch of instinct she had to kill the man where he stood. The man's slicked down ebony hair was frayed in places, flicking upwards toward the ceiling. From this distance, she couldn't distinguish whether his menacing eyes were blue or green, but she leaned towards the latter. The growls were a mixture of pain and urging, and she tried to force them back down her throat as she watched the man lift the spear slightly, twisting it in his hand to stare at it a moment before lashing out with it. The same energy propelled from the Tesseract blasted from the end of the staff, obliterating a few parts of each machine. Shrapnel flew from the machines and embedded themselves into the skins of the scientists, a rather large piece sticking into the back of her thigh. The force of the blast had thrown her against the Tesseract's harness.

Her leg seared with fire and she couldn't quite bring herself to rip the shard from her skin. She was scraping at the ground with her nails, resisting the urge to change forms. She had to take the risk of letting her guard down for a moment. She did so, clearing her mind and relaxing her body, going limp upon the ground as Nick reached over her to secure the cube into a specially-built case. He locked it away, and by that time Aimee had ceased in her shuddering, her fighting with the beast. Carmen had gone back in her hole, unwilling to 'assist' if her host was going to be difficult with her. Aimee sat up, pushing into a defensive position as she regained what guard she could over her body and senses. As she and Nick remained there, though Nick had stood, the man had seized mental, emotional, and physical control over Clint, Erik, and one other agent.

Aimee threw a look in Nick's direction, mouthing the word _"go"_ with her lips. He nodded and moved to head towards the stairs. That was when the man spoke, facing them as the brunette got to her feet painfully. "Please, don't. I still need that."

"Yeah, well, what purpose is it to someone like you?" She asked him, intending to stall while Nick escaped safely, intending to bury the man as soon as the excess energy imploded. She limped forward, carefully resting on the ground with one foot slightly elevated.

"Someone like me?" He quoted her, pursing his lips for a moment. "I am Loki of Asgard. I come burdened with a glorious purpose."

"Yet, I somehow come to believe you are here to cause trouble."

"Oh, no," his tone was laced with a plethora of various intentions, "I come bearing great news."

Nick interrupted, "What kind of news?"

"Freedom."

"Freedom from what?"

The wicked man grinned at the pair of them, "Freedom from freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. You humans were meant to be ruled. Under my jurisdiction, there will be ultimate peace."

The Director stared at him with a dead expression, "Yeah, peace, and I keep thinking you mean the other thing…" He insinuated a war; it was something the pair of them knew was coming.

"Sir, they're stalling. They intend to bury us." Clint stated, pacing over to Loki.

Aimee smiled, "Like the Pharaohs of Egypt."

Erik made a statement about less than two minutes remaining before the energy imploded everything within range, and Loki gave a command. Within a split second, a shot rang out, reverberating off the concrete walls, and a bullet was lodged into Nick's chest. The woman was aware there was a vest there and that it would only bruise as well as cause great discomfort, but he was far from dead. Instead, she slipped her fingers around the shrapnel as Clint came at her, ripping it quickly from her leg and slashing it at him with a set of swift movements. There was a sheer agony writhing in her thigh muscles, which would impede her as far as agility went, but she could sure as the Hellfire within her still fight. Just because Clint was coming at her didn't make her change her mind.

Aimee elbowed Clint in the gut when he managed to get his arms around her, lashing out with the shard once more, just barely nicking the upper part of his arm. She could smell the sharp scent of copper and iron as the blood dripped not only from him, but also from her own wound. He took advantage of such, kicking out at the back of her leg when he was behind her. She cried out and collapsed, rolling over and striking with her leg. He caught it and wrenched it to the side. She used the momentum and whirled herself around, pushing upwards with her arm and nailing him in the jaw. He retaliated instantly and grasped her shoulders, slamming her against the ground. Her head hit the concrete and she immediately lost her senses.

Blackness crept in around the edges of her vision, her head pounding in her ears painfully. Her senses were everywhere as she lay limply upon the ground, staring at nothing in particular. She was jumbling her scents and her sight was of no use to her. The only thing she could feel was her headache and the wound in the back of her leg, maybe the cool floor, but nothing more. She could, however, hear the distinct sound of shuffling feet as the four men made way to escape the slowly falling apart room. Then everything began to shake. She could hear a quick buzz of static and Nick's voice over the radio, calling to Maria Hill about the four men. Before she could really make sense of anything else, she was on her feet and being dragged away from the source of the problem. At that point, the hallways and stairs were just a blur to her.

"Stay with me, Aimee. It's just a little blood, a little whack to the head. You'll be fine."

His voice kept her in check, helped to calm down her raging nerves. She felt the helicopter seats beneath her, then a sense of weightlessness as they were hoisted into the air. Slowly, the clean air penetrated her senses and cleared them. Her headache went away. She could see, hear, smell, taste, and feel everything perfectly once more. It was the last she wasn't so happy about, considering the depth of her leg wound, as well as the severity of the pressure that had been placed on her head upon that impact. She turned her head in time to watch the horror before her as the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. facility imploded from the excess energy of the portal. She could hardly understand the science behind such a large blast from a tiny bit of energy, but she knew what followed this, and utter anger worked its way into her system.

Her fingers clenched the metal frame of the door, bending the thin steel with ease. It strained with a grated noise. She turned her face to Nick, "Nick….let me at the bastard, please."

"You can't kill him unless you get the Tesseract first." He chided, knowing her full intention. She would immediately abandon the cube for revenge; no one was allowed to beat her like that. "I told the pilot to get as close to the Jeep they stole as possible, that way you can get onto it without having to give chase, especially with your leg. Speaking of which, can you handle him with that wound?"

Aimee looked at the bleeding gash in the back of her thigh. The blood was everywhere it could be, practically soaking the entire pant leg. It ached, but was only a dull throb in the back of her mind. She was sure if she were to stand and twist the wrong way when moving, then there would be extra pains caused to her through those. However, she was hell bent on kicking the ass of that devilishly handsome god, whether it hurt her or not. It wouldn't be the wound that bothered her, honestly. That man, Loki, reminded her of someone she knew, someone who had caused her enormous amounts of pain long before she had ever fully become associated with S.H.I.E.L.D. It was the resemblance of the eyes and the features in general that struck her so hard, but there were enough differences for her to pull herself together.

"Trust me; it wouldn't be the wound that harms me."

"He looks like _him_, doesn't he?" When she nodded somberly, he sighed, "I was hoping that was something you wouldn't notice from the start, but it seems you have. Well, perhaps it will give you extra motivation to pound his face in."

Aimee grinned and laughed, something she rarely did, but the idea the Director had just put in her head made her almost joyful. She got to her feet, wobbling slightly from the lack of balance the helicopter provided her, and hung closely to the edge of the doorway as Nick crouched beside her. He fired shots at the vehicle and it didn't take long to see the familiar glow of the staff as Loki attacked them. Timing her jump, she waited for the right position to present itself, and then leaped from the helicopter. The impact upon the hard steel of the Jeep's roof was painful, especially with her former injury to the head. At that point, she wouldn't be surprised if she had a mild concussion. She quickly gathered herself and flipped her body around, kicking at Loki's chest with her feet. He stumbled backwards and into the corner, though swiftly stood and swung at her as she whipped around his body, putting him between her and Clint's gun.

She had been right about his appearance. Now that he was right in front of her, she couldn't help but compare them. The same complexion, body build, eyes, and even hair color, though the cut was different. The same expression was there, too, and that was the worst part of it. The man that had harmed her and Loki looked so much alike that it nearly scared her. No, it did scare her. It terrified her, because, in some sense, she felt as though Loki was that man. He wasn't, though, and she needed to keep that in mind before she got herself killed. She knew such thoughts would make her hesitate, and it would cost her the life she clung so feebly to or even a limb. So, she focused on Loki, mentally choosing the difference between him and the other man just to keep her and Carmen calm.

Carmen had more hatred for that man that harmed Aimee than Aimee herself did.

"You are quite spirited." Loki stated, clenching the staff in his hand securely as the Jeep rattled along the dark dirt road. "Your style of fighting is rather impressive for one so…insignificant."

She shrugged. "You can banter me all you want, throw insults left and right at me, and even make me feel like I'm nothing more than an ant to be crushed by a boot." His expression seemed slightly startled. He seemed to realize the fact that she was dangerous, despite how easily she had been taken down in the observatory room, and that was a good thing. She was extremely dangerous. S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have two filing cabinet's worth of information on her alone for nothing. "So, have at it. I don't care, so you'd best be sure you're ready for my wrath."

Loki gave a cynical grin. "You are filled with fire. It burns inside of you. Such a mystical quality that I can hardly imagine what it is. You would make a useful ally or even a partner in ruling this world."

"Why are you so intent on ruling us?" She asked him, hoping to catch him off guard, though she was sure he was doing the same thing. "You have to understand that while we may be weak as a species, our spirits are unbreakable. There will always be someone to fight men like you. Might I add that some of them are not human? Like myself."

He blinked slowly. "Yes, I find it peculiar. I have studied this world for several years so I could be prepared for my arrival and the usurping of this world. I studied everyone. I studied you in particular, but your files were locked away so tight that no amount of my magic could get to them. I wonder why that is?"

"Instead of wondering, I would be more concerned of the reason they are locked away, if I was you." Aimee felt flames lick at her fingertips, staring at him blankly. "What part of "wrath" did you not understand?"

Like lightning, she lashed out at the man, grabbing onto the staff as he held it up in his defense. He flipped it over her head as she turned slightly to wrench it from his hands, crushing it up against her trachea and pinning her back to his chest. She grunted, whipping her head backwards harshly, smacking him in the face. He gave a small cry of surprise and let go enough for her to worm her way out, running her elbow into his stomach and smashing him against the glass of the Jeep window. She twisted his arm and stole the staff away, tossing it to the side where it could not be reached. With that out of the way, she was sure to win the fight. He seemed skilled with his magic, but what would he do without it?

He fought like Hell. It certainly caught her off guard, but she pushed back with intensity unmatched. They seemed to be physically well matched for one another. For several minutes, one would momentarily prevail over the other before it really went back into a stalemate. Aimee had been all over the world, training herself in many different ways to keep a lid on her head. That included several different forms of meditation and several different forms of fighting. She wasn't about to just become a Monk of sorts. She trained herself in this way to stand up against the enemies that were as unruly as she was, possibly even more, but she had also felt, at the time, that it would be good enough to fend off Carmen. She wasn't sure if it was the meditation lessons or the fighting lessons that had prevented the wolf from taking control.

As she had suspected, though, Loki was not a fair fighter. He targeted her weakness, the back of her leg, where the wound was freshly torn open from moving, just as Clint had done in the observatory. Normally, Aimee would not be so inclined to fail just because of a little bit of blood loss. However, she didn't realize how much blood she lost this time. It was soaking her pant leg, and she could feel it running across her skin in a slimy film. The blood loss was making her dizzy, forcing her to slowly lose her ability to keep balance. Her coordination was failing her little by little, and she was sure Loki had taken notice. He reached out with his arms, wrapping one tightly around her waist and using the other hand to grab tightly to the leg over the wound, slamming her onto her back. Her mouth gaped open in a silent scream, unable to move as the sudden agony paralyzed her.

"Now, now, let's not allow this to go any farther than it has to, lovely darling." One of his knees was pinned against her abdomen, preventing much movement, and he was whispering menacingly in her ear; his hand was still clasped around her thigh, and she felt an unnatural pressure growing there. "I love your heart, your spirit, this fire that burns inside of you! Join me. Otherwise, I will let you go."

She managed to choke out, "How is that so bad?"

Loki grinned, "Trust me; you will learn that not joining me will be something you greatly regret."

Aimee pressed her cheek tightly against his, as if to prove something, "I believe that's a risk I am willing to take."

"That is a most disappointing choice."

The pressure upon her leg grew unbearable and she growled in pain. The pressure continued and fire seared through her limb as she heard a sickening crack, followed by the creaking of the bone as it moved against itself. She knew, without a doubt, that he had shattered a part of her femur. It wasn't just one clean break, it was several of them. She could barely keep herself from screaming, but when he slammed it against the Jeep bed she released the piercing wail from her throat. It took moments for the scream to die away, and she flopped helplessly against the cool metal, which seemed like a savior at the time. He grinned at her pain, watching her closely as she writhed.

"This is what you receive for this kind of disobedience."

Aimee glared with daggers in her eyes at him right in the face, bringing her nose to nearly touch with his own, "Fuck you."

Loki removed himself from her, harshly grasping her by the collar of her shirt, dragging her to the end of the Jeep's short bed. Her stomach lurched, heart rising into her throat. The car had to be going around sixty miles an hour, judging by the speed of the ground and the force of the wind. Without hesitation, the man muttered an angered goodbye and threw her off the edge of the vehicle. The impact came horribly and without warning. The dirt and rocks dug into her skin, blurring her vision and also causing her more pain than there was before. Her leg seemed to bounce against the road the most, and it made her want to hurl.

Eventually, her body rolled to a stop and she lay there limply, like a lifeless ragdoll that had merely been thrown around for someone's amusement, and then was discarded like trash. Tears pressed at her now grey eyes. The fire had finally died and she had given up. If she died out here, then there would be justice for some people, but she knew she wouldn't because Carmen wouldn't let her. She felt weak, useless, as though she had hardly put a scratch in that man's armor. She had failed. As much as she had been trained, as good as she was at what she did…she had failed. It hurt her the most. All this time training, meditating, and fighting had been for nothing.

Aimee couldn't move. The pain was like fire in her limbs, searing and burning in the worst ways. It ate away at her muscles, at her nerves, and at every fiber of her being. She wanted to die then as she had wanted to die so many times, but she knew all of it would always be to no avail. She felt herself slipping into the darkness of her mind. It was pitch black outside, but she could vaguely make out the lights coming towards her in the distance, but they were blurry. They got closer and closer. Her eyelids drooped and she was losing it. She couldn't fight anymore to stay awake. This was it.

The darkness consumed her when she heard Nick's voice.


	2. Breathe

| 2 |

The ice crept slowly through her veins, attempting to evade anything that would halt their process of numbing, and she certainly lost any ability to feel her right leg. Vaguely, she could summon the memories to her head, gruesome images of what had taken place last night. Had it been last night? She couldn't remember; she just remembered how much pain she was in, how much she wished she would just die. There was a hole in her leg, as well as a shattered femur bone. She recalled that much, but only because she could still feel the tiny bits of bone grating against one another like grains of sand falling through an hourglass. How had he done that again? Magic, right? It was something that she was familiar with, but not something she could use in excess.

Carmen was like a premium package. She came with all of the great extras, but, alas, she was a pain in the ass to have to operate. Through her, Aimee could use a number of magic tricks, essentially. The use of flames was one of them, mostly due to the fact that it was the element Carmen embodied. She had three siblings, and they each controlled the others: water, earth, and wind. There was no need for lightning. Thor was made with that purpose. The flames were from the fires of Hell, a powerful and dark force used to destroy. It had no redeeming qualities about it, though it was useful. Another power Carmen held was the use of crystals. Those crystals were a color of her choice, which happened to be black, and they were practically indestructible. Only the power of other gods could shatter them.

There was also one other thing about the wolf, one of the things Aimee often hated the most about her. She seemed to give her this ability to have accelerated healing, as well as slow aging, physically. She was in her early forties, appeared as though she was still twenty. Perhaps the healing was tied with the youth, but she couldn't be sure. In those moments of burning, the urge to writhe about in agony, she could feel that healing power sluggishly reconnect the bone fragments. It ached, because even the tinier pieces of those pieces had to reconnect to one another in order to put the puzzle pieces of her femur back together again. It wasn't often that Carmen was so generous to her in healing a wound this horrid, but the wolf had made a deal with Odin and a wound like that would kill her if it wasn't treated quickly enough.

There was a thick murmur of voices in the room, penetrating her ears and clearing her head rather quickly. Unfortunately, she began to feel the pain even sharper as her leg healed than when it had been broken. At least some of the wind had numbed it at the time, but the fire in her veins burned off the morphine too quickly for there to be much effect. Lights blinded her eyes when she opened them; the darkness vanished so fast that it hurt, and she blinked multiple times to clear it away. The tart smell of a sanitized room lingered in the room and it made her nostrils tingle. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself, forcing her body to move and sit up so she could survey her surroundings. That took a few moments, and she felt a steadying hand on her back.

"Take it easy, Aim; you've been through hell…"

Aimee recognized the voice and it brought a smile to her face. She looked at the familiar features of good old Steve Rogers, "Well, I am honored. Captain America has come to visit little old me." Her tone was raspy and her throat was dry, possibly from inhaling dirt as she came crashing down on that road. Her lip was split, too, but even that could be from a number of things. She felt the bruises, most likely the cause of her pain when she moved.

Steve grinned dryly at her, remaining where he stood at her temporary bedside as the S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors wandered around her. "Yeah, well, I couldn't exactly stay in my apartment when they told me what happened. I think I got here faster than Agent Coulson did…"

"What happened to me? After getting my ass kicked, I mean…" She hated to admit it, but that's honestly what happened. She knew she had lost to Loki and she had lost badly to him. If she were to use Carmen's power, which generally gave her enhanced speed and strength, as well as coordination and reaction, then she probably would have won. She was against using it, though, and that was why she was here. Carmen was truly her only defense against that kind of magic, and she refused to use it.

Nick, who had been in the room, paced over to her and sighed, "You got your ass kicked all right. You were hardly conscious when Phil and I got to you. We rushed you to the nearest S.H.I.E.L.D. health facility and here you are. We thought you weren't going to wake up."

There was a bitter expression on her face, "Yeah. You and I both know _she_ wouldn't have let it go that way. I've tried. There isn't anything I know of that could kill me and her both, except maybe…the others." She referred to Carmen's siblings; one of their hosts was a very good friend of hers, though such a term should be 'former good friend'. "Hell, I think if I did die, Carmen would bring me back to life on the spot."

Aimee rested her face in her hands, rubbing her temples gently to dissuade the sudden pain in her head from progressing. She wasn't so sure what would happen now. Honestly, with a man like that on the loose, there was little that they really could do without calling on a few select people. That sort of thing, in her mind, would most likely end in disaster. Granted, it would probably be the Earth's only chance of survival against Loki, whether it succeeded or not. She had absolutely no knowledge of Loki's plans. She didn't even get that much out of him when fighting him in the Jeep, which only aggravated her further. A nurse walked in and offered her water, which she generously accepted and wolfed down in a matter of seconds. It felt cool and relieving against her scratched esophagus.

There was a dead silence between the three of them. One question was assuredly on all of their minds:

What happened next?

Loki had disappeared with the cube, a master assassin, and their top scientist on the project. There were many evil things being done here, all of which would possibly end in failure or destruction for them. Aimee's mind wandered to the thought of an initiative that was shut down years ago. It had been something created like a backup plan in case this kind of thing happened, especially after recent visits, such as Thor's banishment to Earth and the metal alien that leveled a small town. She didn't believe Thor was at fault. Honestly, he probably saved more people than he harmed, but it still made people aware that Earth wasn't the only planet in the universe with inhabitants upon it. It was a terrifying thought to anyone normal, so that initiative had been drafted in case it happened again. However, it had been shot down by the Council and had never resurfaced.

"Nick…" Her tone was thoughtful, her mind still occupied with that initiative. "I know this is a long shot, but…with what just happened and with what I feel is about to happen…"

He smirked, "Are you suggesting the Avengers Initiative?"

She smiled a bit and nodded. "Yes. I know it was shut down and I know the Council won't be happy about it, but I don't give a shit at this point. What that man, Loki, just did is unacceptable. I hate losing. I'll beat him, hopefully without Carmen's powers. Although…he said he intended to rule us."

"Is something telling you he will come close to succeeding or will succeed?"

"Something along those lines, yes." Aimee tilted her head to the side. "His tone…when I spoke with him on that Jeep…it was serious, yet there were hints of childish want and neglect there. Something tells me S.H.I.E.L.D. alone won't stop him from trying."

Steve broke in, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's the Avengers Initiative?"

"I will explain that to you later. For now, get yourself cleaned up, Aimee." Nick told her, receiving a slightly confused expression. "I'm already ahead of you with the Avengers thing. The Council doesn't know it's the Avengers exactly, but I plan on telling them. It's just a response team. Natasha is getting Banner, Coulson is getting Stark, and since Rogers is here, that solves one problem."

"I presume I will be fetching someone else who has qualified for it?" When he didn't answer her and when his face fell grave, her frown deepened and her heart sunk. Just who was it that she was meant to be fetching? Apparently, it wouldn't be something she would take pleasure in doing. "Nick…who I am recruiting?"

He hesitated, "You are going to the outskirts of Manhattan to recruit the White Lily. You're being reunited with Gabriella Stark."

Aimee blanched. "No. No, I can't do that. You know I can't do that. Choose someone else, please. I am not stable enough to handle confronting her again."

"You don't have a choice. Make it strictly about business and you won't broach that painful subject with her." He paused, searching for a better argument. "If anyone in this agency can convince her to come here, it's you. She may hate you, loathe you, and wish you dead every second of the day, but you are the only one who she would listen to. Anyone else…and we all know she would deny."

She shook her head. "I am the only person in the world she despises with the fire of a thousand suns and I'm her recruiter. She's married, too. Her last name isn't Stark anymore… It's LeBeau."

"Look, I don't care right now." He said, clearly irritated with having to wait for these things to get rolling. "Just get her. I don't care if you drag her in kicking and screaming. Just recruit her."

Nick left the room, leaving the doctor to sign the release papers for the brunette. He clenched a brace around her upper thigh in order to keep it stable while it healed. A pair of crutches was also granted to her, support she didn't want, but support she was going to have to take whether she wanted to or not. She couldn't really walk on her own without causing any more damage or pain, though it would soon disappear. It would only take a few hours and she wished she could remain glued to that hospital bed, wallow in those memories of Gabriella, known as Bri to everyone, and herself. The images of the incident that had occurred between Aimee and Bri's son turned her vision red, sickening her as she limped idly outside.

There was a black SUV awaiting her and Steve assisted her in getting into the passenger seat. One of the other agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. sat in the driver's seat, prepared to take off. She glanced to Steve, "Where are you going?"

"I don't know." His lips pursed in confusion as he tried to conjure up the name of his destination. "It's called the…something. It's a ship?"

Aimee nodded, smiling, "Ah, yes. You'll see when you get there. I'll meet you there in a few hours. If I come back alive, that is."

"You'll be fine, Aim. Bri isn't insane."

"Yet."

She bid her farewell to the good friend and the other agent began driving. On the way, rain began to drizzle down upon the roads of the nice communities in thick, gray sheets. The tree branches bent beneath the weight of the water and the influence of the light wind rushing about. The clouds were a dark force above their heads, churning and curling around one another in intricate wisps of vapor. They could be beautiful at times, creating beautiful designs, patterns, and shapes to gaze at on a nicer day. However, these clouds sapped all of the sun from the world that was beneath them, drinking in all of the happiness that could possibly exist. There was the occasional set of parents watching their little one splash about in the warm rain puddles, but that only coursed pangs through her heart at an even harsher rate.

This was something she was far from inclined to do. It had been almost eight years since the incident, since the thing that had made her run away from the world in the first place. Of course, what she had done had been horrible to start with, but how Bri had reacted to it, while reasonable, did not help her emotions in the slightest. Hearing how much Bri hated her and wanted her dead, hearing those words come from her best friend's mouth herself, had sent her into a tailspin destined to dive straight down a very dark and a very deep hole. In the first couple years after the incident, she had been an absolute wreck. She had felt such remorse for what she had done that it tore her apart, but the words of her closest friend felt like having her heart ripped directly from her chest.

Whenever the subject was brought up to people, though it was something Aimee attempted to actively avoid, the same question often came up along with it: what had she done to deserve such hatred? It could have been a number of things, honestly, because she wasn't necessarily the greatest friend. Mentally and emotionally scarred, Aimee had not been the most stable thing on the planet at the time. However, Bri trusted her with her life, and the life of her oldest son. As she recounted the tale in her head, she found herself blocking away the most gruesome parts of the memories and only tried to reminisce in the better times. That day had gone so well, hadn't it? In the end, a life had been lost to her fangs and she had lost her best friend because of it. It was the reason she refused to use Carmen's "gifts" anymore.

If anyone tried asking her about what she did, she would immediately turn away from the subject, either ignored what was going on or just change the topic. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that she just needed to breathe and that everything would be okay. She was certainly scared, and that didn't even cover the beginnings of it. There was a plethora of emotions racing through her veins like horses in the Kentucky Derby. They were a blur, blending together in a concoction that was bound to trip, tumble, and pile up into one gigantic mess. The dirt was being churned by the hooves, sliced and kicked upwards, jumbling in the air only to land in an order that was not what it was to begin with. She had finally managed to compose herself over this and now she was being forced to recruit the one person in the world who loathed her.

The ride ended too soon, and the driver pulled to a stop in front of a simple house. It was white on the outside, gray shingles for the roof, red shutters around the windows, and a bright red door that stood out for blocks. The yard was well-kept and fenced, a beautiful shale walkway leading from the sidewalk to the door, which was surrounded by a various amount of bushes and flowers. They all drooped and flicked back and forth with the movement of the rain. It was pretty. Even the golden numbers of the house's address was as beautiful as it hung upon one of the support beams at the end of the shale walkway. For a split moment in her mind, she almost forgot it was the house of Bri and her husband, Remy.

Remy LeBeau was also known as Gambit from the X-Men and had been Bri's husband for around sixteen years, which was around the age their son would have been in the coming months. Remy had long forgiven Aimee of the deed she had done. He had managed to find her a few years ago, told her these things, and begged her to return. When she had said no, he had not objected and left her to carry on her business in peace. Tony, as in Tony Stark, had forgiven her as well. He didn't blame her for what she had done and even stood up for her, claiming she was defending the child as she knew how and it had merely gone wrong. She didn't know how to handle the power that was against her and leaned on the power inside of her to combat it.

Before exiting the car, she turned to look at the driver, "Do you know if Tony Stark is being brought in on this project?"

"As far as I know, Agent Coulson went to speak with him now before escorting Captain Rogers to the Helicarrier, ma'am." He hesitated a moment, "May I ask why?"

"Yes, you may. The woman I am about to go speak to is Tony Stark's sister." She furrowed her brow uncomfortably. "If Tony is being brought in on this, I wonder why they didn't send him to drag her there."

The man shrugged, "I am sure Director Fury has his reasons. They are reasons I am not really allowed to question, but I believe all will be revealed in due time, ma'am."

Debating on it for a few moments, she supposed he was right. Nick may have not wanted to tell her everything right now because she would refuse to assist him in whatever he needed her for. Things would become clear eventually, even if she wanted answers now and was unsettled with whatever he was planning for her. "Yeah, you're right. I will be back as soon as I can."

"You don't seem eager to be reunited with her." He said. "People have told me the two of you were good friends."

"Your keyword is 'were', kid."

Aimee carefully stepped out of the car and onto the soaked sidewalk, which had darkened with the water seeping into its pores. The crutches assisted her in reaching the gate of the fence, which she closed and locked behind her. Now that she was face with this, feelings of sudden queasiness washed over her beaten body and she didn't want to do it. It was almost a sense of foreboding that something bad was going to happen if she continued to walk along that shale path. There was an occasional 'click' as the foot of her crutch tapped against the stones. The water soaked her shoulders and most of her hair, but the electronic device strapped within the bag on her other shoulder was safe from damage.

'_I sincerely wish this door was a trap…'_ She did, too. She wanted to ring the doorbell, and then be snatched up by some incredible trap meant to destroy the likes of her. It would be a fitting end to a monster like her, asking to enter this house especially after what she had done to the woman inside.

Tentatively, her hand reached out with one finger extended. She pressed down quickly on the small, white round button. She prayed that something would jump out and eat her. The button set of a chorus of bells, chiming in a melodious tune throughout the extension of the house. For a moment, there was nothing else after the bells had ended, except the echo of their tune within her head, and it was then that she heard footsteps. A number of thoughts went through her head. She could slip it through the mail-slot, leave it on the doorstep, or even hurl it through one of the windows. The last one would probably get her a severe reprimanding.

There was a cheery voice, one that struck her deeply because she had not heard it in so long, but she knew exactly who it was. She wondered if she would remember her, but there was no doubt that the woman would. Seven, even eight, years wouldn't do much damage to the memory. The door was opened and for a moment there was a welcoming grin. She was what was commonly known as a Ginger. Beautiful, carrot-colored hair that gleamed as it fell around her shoulders and stunning blue eyes that changed with whatever form of water she was using. There were many freckles, too, and they were one of her favorite features about her friend. That smile vanished, though, and the blue in her eyes darkened to a point as though it was storming.

Her name was Gabriella LeBeau, barely younger sister of Tony Stark and married to Gambit, also known as Remy LeBeau. She had, at one point a long while ago, been Aimee's best friend. There were no two beings in the world closer, and they had something that tied them together infinitely, whether one or the other liked it or not. While Aimee had Carmen, Bri had Carmen's counterpart, Tabitha. Tabitha was a massive cat, bearing saber fangs and no tail. She was brute force. A pale blue coat covered with many different shades of blue in the shapes of tribal markings as Carmen was. She was the embodiment of water, as well as healing.

Tabitha had been sealed within Bri to keep an eye on Carmen, as a type of babysitter should the wolf ever truly lose control and be let loose on the cities of the world. Nothing had truly ever escalated to that point. It was the cat's job to heal things, the opposite of Carmen. She could heal while Carmen destroyed. Those were their most separating traits. There were the other two, a bird of the wind and a puma of the earth, but neither Aimee nor Bri had ever met them. They didn't know if they had hosts or if they were just the massive beasts themselves. They didn't know if they would ever know at all, but it didn't matter to them. They had their own problems.

That smile had faded, and an icy tone had embedded itself into the redhead's voice, "What the hell do you want?"

Aimee could hear Remy ask from inside, "Love, who is that?"

For a moment, she was at a loss for words, her tongue not giving her anything to say. It seemed as though she was about to close the door, and she managed to force something out, "No! Stop…just wait."

Bri stood there impatiently, her weight leaning against one leg, her expression nearly murderous. "What do you want?"

"Look, I know you are angry at me and never wanted to see me again. I tried to make that happen, but Nick called me in." She paused a moment, watching her expression change slightly. "He's calling you in now, too."

"For what? I have a kid. I can't just leave her."

Aimee bit back, "If you don't hear me out, you may not have a family in the next week."

There was a stunned look upon her porcelain face and after a moment of harsh debate, she invited her former friend in. The door opened up into a large foyer, where it led into a room that acted as a dining room and a den. The ceiling stretched up about thirty feet where a chandelier, intricate and covered in beautiful crystals, hung down lower to illuminate the entire room. Remy was sitting upon one of the couches that were in that area. Another couch was opposite of him and there was a finely-designed coffee table in the center of it. There was a cup of dark liquid, which she assumed was coffee or tea, sitting upon the table. There was a ring of water around its base, either from heat or from cold.

Aimee hobbled over to the other couch on her one crutch and flopped down, flipping the bag into her lap and opening it up. Bri sat beside Remy, who had sat up and set down his book. He was suddenly interested by her appearance, considering he hadn't seen her for a number of years. She pulled the sleek black computer from the bag, yanking the screen from it and resetting it in the proper position. Punching in her code, the computer opened up with the information they would need. She set if on the coffee table and turned it around, sliding it over to them and then retreating back as she began to explain in a rather dead voice. Emotions would only make her stall.

"Yesterday, the main S.H.I.E.L.D. facility was invaded by a man named Loki. He is the brother of Thor and is from Asgard." She and Bri shared a knowing look. These were things they were already aware of, but there were still things they needed find out. "He came in through a portal created by the Tesseract, which was then stolen alongside Erik Selvig and Clint Barton."

"Hawkeye's been compromised?" Bri whispered, incredulous that she infinitely sharp man had been captured. "That's hard to believe…"

Aimee nodded sadly. "Yes. To say the least, whether Nick wants to admit this or not, we are reinstating the Avengers Initiative. We will be joined by Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, and Bruce Banner. I am directly involved as well and, if we're lucky, Clint will be on our side soon. Nick wants you in on this too, Mrs. LeBeau. Don't ask me why, because I was only sent here to recruit you."

"Banner?" She ignored the last statement. "Will the Hulk be happy about coming?"

"Probably not, but we aren't using him for the Hulk." The brunette told them. As far as she had been told, the Hulk was not a part of the plan. Bruce was the one they needed, not his monster. "The Tesseract emits a low level of gamma radiation that is too weak for us alone to trace. No one knows that type of radiation like Bruce does. We are hoping to get him to find the cube for us so we can take it back from Loki. If we can't just take it back and kill him, the plan is to capture Loki."

Bri raised an eyebrow at her, "And what is Loki planning to do with the Tesseract? Did he do this to your leg, too?"

"That would be the problem; we don't know. He only told us he came burdened with a glorious purpose." She paused, nodding once. "Yes. I pursued him, fought him, and he shattered my femur bone with the same kind of magic Carmen and Tabitha can use. He is an Asgardian. It's not surprising. Carmen is almost finished healing it."

"She can heal?" Remy broke in for the first time.

"It's more like a form of regeneration, something self-sustaining to keep me and herself alive." Aimee gestured with her hands as though to emphasize certain things. "Carmen destroys; she does not heal, not that I know of. That's Tabitha's job."

There was a tense air about them as the creatures were mentioned. Aimee could understand why. Honestly, it had been because of Carmen that there was bad blood between her and Bri. Had the wolf not been embodied within her at that time or had remained dormant like she was supposed to, then maybe they would still be close friends. Aimee missed Bri's company though, but had come to befriend Steve out of the whole thing. Like Bri, he knew everything about her, because he had been open to helping her in her time of need. He was like her brother, just as Bri had once been her sister. She still considered her such, but would not breach the subject.

Aimee continued in something of a hurry, "I need you to look over this and call Nick with your decision. He really needs you on this one, just as he needs the rest of us."

Bri stared at her a long moment. "…Do you think the Avengers will work?"

"I don't know. It's impossible to say if we can all get along," which she knew would be hard enough to do with some, "but it is the best shot we have right now. Loki is ready to kill all of us and we aren't even ready to respond. The Avengers is just a response team."

Aimee stood and hobbled towards the door, leaving them to debate over what she had told them. There was an awkward silence as she left the house, left the information with them, and went back to the car. She got in, buckling down her seat belt and shutting the door. Her leg was nearly healed completely by this time, making it easier to move. It was still a bit painful, but she could at least walk on it by the time she was taken to a small plane, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.s designs. She was transported from the land to the Helicarrier, which rested on the open seas. One of the other agents disposed of her crutch as she carefully sauntered off of the tiny plane.

"Aimee!"

Turning her head to the side, she spotted Steve and it put a smile on her face, "Hey, Spangles." Over time, that had become her favorite nickname for the man. He was the Star Spangled Man with the Plan, after all, so she couldn't resist.

He glanced down at her leg. "That dog of yours is useful. To be walking around on it already is quite the miracle."

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt." She told him. "Is Bruce here already?"

He nodded. "He's inside. I was about to go in, but I thought I'd escort you there."

"Why, thank you," her tone was somewhat cheery, though they both knew she was only sarcastic.

The pair of them paced over to the door and slipped inside. Honestly, the inside of the Helicarrier was rather cozy, much like a house, but computers and many other gadgets overwhelmed the area. It was all something Aimee had already seen, and she almost laughed when Steve gazed about in wonder, as though he was a kid in a candy store. He walked around, leaving her side, and even tipped Nick for no reason. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, then looked around. Natasha was there and she nodded a greeting, but it was Bruce she was more interested in.

Aimee walked over to the man. "Bruce Banner, a pleasure to finally meet you."

He faced her, a look of surprise on his face. "Pleasure? You may not be saying that if things get out of hand."

"Trust me, Doctor…" Her voice was slightly somber. "I know that feeling just as much, if not more, than you do. It's a terror, isn't it; having their voice in your head all the time?"

A light went off in Bruce's head, and he seemed to recognize her. "Ah, yes, Aimee Serasio…the infamous Black Rose."

"I try not to be called that anymore." She shrugged. "But once labeled with a name, it does stick."

"Agreed. It is a pleasure to meet you. I've read a lot about you." He gave a half-hearted grin. "Maybe we could have Carmen and the Other Guy go at it some time for fun, eh?"

She chuckled. "She would love nothing more than an opponent who matches her power."

The Hulk could probably hold her off for a while, but there would be no doubt that Carmen would be victor in the end. Perhaps, in Bruce's mind, it would be logical to let the Hulk exhaust himself, see that he was outmatched, and go back into a hole never to return again. She knew that feeling all too well, but Tabitha was the only match for Carmen, and her host wanted nothing to do with them. Suddenly, the sharp beeping of a computer siren went off and one of the agents began to shout. He pointed at the computer screen and said it was a match for Loki. Aimee was half tempted to sneak a peek at the location then and there, and then run off to maim the man horridly herself.

Aimee heard a satisfied growl in the back of her head as Carmen invaded her mind,

'**What pleasing thoughts…shall we go fulfill your inner wishes?'**

She shook her head, _'Get out of my head, you monster.'_ She pushed the demon away and she went quietly, which worried her somewhat.

Nick called to her, "Aimee, go with Agent Romanoff and Captain Rogers. There is a nice dress waiting for you on the plane you will be taking. Put it on, put the listening device in your ear, go to Germany, and await further instruction."

Not having heard the first part of the conversation, before Nick had given her directions, she raised an eyebrow at him, "A dress? I despise dresses and you know that. What exactly do I need a dress for?"

The man gave a smirk. "You're going to a party."

She frowned, having to remind herself to breathe. "I hate you."


	3. Dirt and Roses

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| . A N D . |

Everything about this felt wrong. It wasn't that the dress wasn't too snug or anything. Actually, it was quite the opposite. She felt far too exposed as her skirt drifted around her knees. It was a lovely dress made of red silk and she couldn't begin to imagine how much it had cost. It extended to her knees and fluttered about loosely, whereas the upper area was tightened around her waist and chest, the most comfortable part to her. It covered her breasts nicely, cutting in a sweetheart neckline and yet it didn't show much cleavage. Natasha had made a comment of how it was this dress or another, more risqué one that Tony had his eye on. Apparently it showed a lot more than intended. The straps formed a halter around her neck and there was a small red belt around her waist, occasionally interrupted with a belt loop.

As much as she hated to admit it, she really did enjoy the article of clothing.

The shoes upon her feet matched the dress in color, but they only had a slight heel so she would not trip and stumble over herself as she normally would in anything except her boots. As she came to the intricately decorated doors of the German building, she marveled at them for a moment before passing into the room. Marble floors and statues as well as accents of gold lined the room. She wondered what the building was really for, but she knew, with the speed Natasha had flown here, that they were indeed in a desperate situation to capture Loki. She pondered upon these things as a kind man in a suit took her small bag from her to situate on a rack nearby. She had nothing of particular use in the bag, just a few things she had been given to fix her makeup with just in case.

Aimee released a breath nervously, unsure of what to do exactly until she gained sight of Loki. They knew he was going to be here, or that he was here already. They had gotten face recognition from a camera in the area and had sped here as soon as they possibly could. It didn't take them long at all to get to Stuttgart, Germany, but the question was how long it would take them to get out. There were some rather nasty features they had to fly back over to get to the Helicarrier again. It had been a nice view on the way over, but storm clouds had collected in the distance. She would normally think nothing of them, but, considering Loki was involved, she couldn't help but wonder a few things. She wondered if Thor would show up. She had serious doubts, though she wouldn't put it past him.

Her shoulder was tapped by another man in a suit, who was carrying a silver platter with a single drink upon it, and a rose. "These are for you, ma'am." He spoke in German, a language she knew well. Germany had been one of her favorite places to come during her directionless travels.

"Thank you. Who are they from?" She took the glass into her hand, staring down the blood-red wine, and delicately held the rose in the other, avoiding getting pricked by thorns.

"A tall man with dark hair and these…glowing green eyes sent them." He didn't seem to have any other words to describe his eyes with, and it immediately clued her into who sent them her way. "He said, 'Take these to the enamoring woman in red.' Is that all, miss?"

Aimee nodded at him, giving him a smile. "Yes, thank you very much."

Phil Coulson's voice sounded in her ear, since she was one of several connected to the listening device she carried, _"Ooohhhh. A rose and some wine."_

She rolled her eyes, speaking quietly as though to herself, "Hush up, Phil. It doesn't mean anything." Not that she knew of at least. Her gaze was transfixed on the rose, attempting to put a purpose to it, but she could find none no matter how hard she tried.

Aimee was only half-decent at deciphering riddles and couldn't do so nearly as well as some people she knew. She was no Tony Stark that was for sure, so she didn't understand what the rose was for. Whether it was a threat from Loki or just a simple and kind gesture from him, she honestly didn't know. The wine, on the other hand, could prove to be a true threat if it were poisoned or bewitched with some type of magic. Lowering her nose to it, she sniffed at it almost disapprovingly, but drank in every ounce of the scent that she could. It traveled through her olfactory system and processed in her brain. There was nothing pungent about the smell, so she touched it. Yet, Carmen sensed no use of magic on it.

_Why then?_ She couldn't grasp the reason.

Hesitant, she took a small sip, enjoying the explosive flavor on her tongue. She always enjoyed tartness. Wine was merely grape juice with alcohol in it; that was her simple deduction at least. She shrugged lightly to herself and drank some more. Though alcohol burned rather quickly through her system – Carmen gave her a monster metabolism – she still did enjoy the taste. She doubted it would kill her either or even slowly rot away her liver. So, she stood there, surveying the party with silent eyes as people mingled about with one another, attempting to decipher the meaning of the rose. A man eventually came and discarded her empty glass for her, and she was left to stare helplessly at the rose.

A rose could mean any number of things. It could mean love and peace or war and hate. A rose was something of a contradiction, truly, a contradiction she loved. The petals and the smell of the flower were very intoxicating and beautiful. It was the most popular flower around the world, mostly known as a symbol of love. However, there was something very painful about the rose as well, even dangerous to some creatures: its thorns. They were sharp and, by nature, perfectly capable of drawing blood. Everything in nature had a natural defense that protected them from their enemies, their predators and stalkers. Whether it was thorns or a set of razor teeth, the defense was necessary.

"A wild rose is beautiful, but willing to draw blood in its defense…" She muttered the statement.

_"Honestly, that sounds like someone we know."_ Natasha's voice entered her ear.

"Who does it sound like?" Aimee asked her, truly curious.

_"It sounds like you. You are not only the Black Rose, but…"_ The redheaded woman paused in her sentence, _"…you are definitely willing to draw blood in your defense as well as anyone else's. The beauty statement is obvious. It's completely true."_

Aimee rolled her eyes. For a reason unbeknownst to her, Natasha had always been kind to her and such things had increased in the recent years. Though their contact had been minimal, the Black Widow always seemed to have something gratifying to say to the brunette. Perhaps it was because they shared a few things in common. They had both gotten onto S.H.I.E.L.D.s radar in a bad way, but it had ended well for them because certain people made different calls than what they had been told to do originally. However, even she often wondered if she was better off having been killed. Not quickly, but slowly, made to suffer as she bled out on the ground. She often wished an ending like that for herself, but she knew it would never come easily.

Should she even want to die? Most people would normally ask why she wanted to die. After the things she had done, there was nothing more that she wanted than to end her own life. She wasn't worthy of the world, let alone the people in it, especially she people she truly cared for. When Tony and Remy had forgiven her for what she had done to their family, she had appreciated it, but it didn't matter to her. She loved them, she did, but she didn't want their forgiveness. Bri's forgiveness mattered the most to her and it was the one thing she wanted very much. She didn't want it as much as dying, though, and if there was a punishment that was harsher than death…she would take it in an instant. However, a life for a life seemed rather fair to her.

In her seemingly endless travels, she had tried to end her life before. Carmen was stubborn, though, intent on keeping the woman alive whether she liked it or not. The wolf would override her mind and psychically halt whatever she was attempting to kill herself with. Bullets and knives were rendered useless, so she resorted to a number of other things. Dying "accidentally" in a fight, falling off a cliff, and even poison were a few of those things. Carmen would block the killing blow, create a net of crystals – which was quite painful, though it saved her life – and she would just burn the poison from her blood as attempted to go through her system. Carmen was intent on keeping true to the orders Odin had given her about Aimee, but how was that fair when she _wanted_ to die?

A light went off in her head, another old saying she knew about roses, "_'But he that dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose.'._" It was something a teacher had told her once, many years ago.

"But he that craves the beautiful rose must first respect its infamous thorn."

At the voice, she found her body having pivoted a complete 180 degrees to face the owner of the voice. Loki stood there, dressed nicely for the party in black pants, shirt, and jacket, but there was a scarf of mingled gold and emerald hanging around his neck. There was a staff in his hand, the one she assumed was what he had been carrying before, but it was in a different form than the sharp ended one they had been attacked with. It seemed to merely be a walking stick of some sort, nothing more, though she knew of its powers well enough to stay away. She eyed it warily as well as him, waiting for any sort of attack that would assuredly come her way.

An overflow of emotions took her by surprise. When he was dressed like this, he looked even more similar to that man from her past, the one who claimed he could help and only harmed in the end. Terror took her at first, then anger, and then she felt aimless, as though she really had nothing to do but gawk at the rather handsome man. She could hardly believe she was admitting to herself that he had nice looks, but she felt she couldn't help herself. She was scared, and there was a sense of foreboding in the room as well as defenselessness on her part. Carmen invaded her mind with a burning fury, raising a loud growl in her head.

**'Get your head out of the clouds, child!'** The wolf snarled. **'Otherwise, render your body useful to me and I will kill the mangy bastard now.'**

_Get out of my head! I will surrender nothing to you! You caused my pain in the first place._

**'Are you so sure?'**

The statement passed over her head as she forced the monster out, refusing to listen to her twisted words and double meanings. Instead, she focused on Loki, no clear expression on her face. Her emotions were jumbled as it was. "What exactly are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, Black Rose."

She felt a few muscles stiffen in uneasiness, glancing around them to see if anyone else had heard. It didn't seem that way. "I don't go by that. My name is Aimee. You may call me such, since it seems we have reached the stage of formalities." As much as she hated herself for the things that she had done, she hated being labeled as a murderer, even though it was basically what she was for S.H.I.E.L.D. Assassin was just a kinder term for it.

"You wish to know the purpose of the rose?" He had ignored her statement, retreating to her earlier question, and her murmurings of the phrases she knew so well. "It burns you to understand the purpose of the beautiful flower, does it not?"

He saw through her easily, picked up on the tiny notes most people couldn't. It was those notes that could very simply be someone's undoing, just as it had been his brother's. Thor was ridiculously easy to fool and in more ways than one. He had caused his brother's exile on purpose in the first place and had not allowed him to return to Asgard once Loki had taken the throne from Odin, something that had put him in a bad situation. He had never expected Thor to learn anything on Earth, let alone a life lesson that would lead to the burly man returning to Asgard to overthrow him. Even when he watched from afar, Loki could still see those little notes that would undo him, just as he could see them in the woman's haunting grey eyes.

Aimee glanced at the flower. "Yes, I suppose I do."

"I will say it again: but he that craves the beautiful rose must respect its infamous thorn." He allowed it to sink in for but a moment. "You are the rose in this situation."

She was confused. _He craves me? If that is the case, I have to wonder in what manner he does crave me and whether or not to fear such words… Yet another tricky moment. I must choose my words wisely._

Before she could speak, Loki stepped towards her, closing most of the distance between them. He leaned down– he wasn't much taller than she was, but he wanted no one else to hear what he had to say to her –and whispered in her ear with a nearly threatening tone, "I know _what_ you are, though not _who_ you are. I know of the demon you hold inside of you. Ah, that expression of surprise always pleases me. You did not think I would find out? After all, Carmen is one of my father's pets. I recognized that _fire_ after much pondering. Unfortunately, the Mutt and I have never particularly gotten along."

There was a heavy lump in her throat, one that prevented her from forming any words or sounds. Her expression was plastered with not only pure shock, but fear as well. Her heart pounded quickly in her chest, thrashing against her chest walls and threatening to spill its contents on the floor. There were a number of threats behind his words, and it was bad enough that he even knew of the wolf inside of her. She knew he had to find out eventually, but she had prayed to whatever deities above that it wouldn't be until much later when she had worked out a solution with Carmen in order to use her power against Loki. He had caught her early in the game, a setback for her, and it was a great advantage for him. Her eyes were widened with a multitude of emotions, her mind reeling in an attempt to solve the situation.

Loki could do anything with her if he could only persuade her to change sides, which could be easy if he threatened the right things. If he threatened something meaningless towards her, then she would kill the man there without hesitation. She could hear Carmen snarling in the back of her head, furious with a blind anger that he knew of her presence, and she was all too eager to fight the man. She slammed against the walls of her cage, tugging on Aimee's heartstrings and consciousness, trying to force herself out of the trap she was imprisoned in. She wanted nothing more than to tear Loki to pieces with her own teeth, an opportunity seldom presented to her, as she had never been allowed near the younger of the Odinsons when she had her own domain in Asgard.

Aimee could be used as a weapon or as leverage, though the first was a far better option. When it came to the ones she loved, she would still do anything for them, even take a bullet. She was not below sacrificing herself for the benefit of the people she adored, but she feared what Loki would do with her, no matter what it was, if he could get his claws around her. She feared that if she did not comply with his demands, then the others would perish a horrible death she would not be able to stop. Then there was being used as a weapon against those people she loved. That was far worse. She had done her dirty deeds in the world, but never once had she laid a harmful finger upon them. It would be of the worst betrayal.

Nick's voice broke in over the listening device, _"Aimee, keep it together! We will not allow him to get the better of you. I know you love these people, but you are stronger than that. You can protect them from this side and do not have to agree to his demands!"_

The words comforted her somewhat, and her expression steeled once more. "So, you figured it out. Bravo, Loki, bravo. But what do you plan on doing to me now? Capture me? Sway my loyalty through the use of your stick?"

He seemed slightly surprised by her sudden bravado, but he gave her a cunning grin. "No, none of those are what I wish to do to you. You would make a strong ally if you could control the beast within you, but it seems you cannot. Do not become aggravated! It will be your biggest downfall. Now, my dear, if you would not mind, I must excuse myself."

Maria Hill's voice snapped harshly at her, ripping her from any reverie she could have been in, "_Aimee, stall him! Whatever he is after, we must find out what it is before he gets it!"_

What the hell was she supposed to do? A flurry of comments from Maria resounded in her head, some "advice" she had given her before they had taken off. It was about acting like a woman to distract him if that was the case, but she honestly had little clue of how to do that. She was a decent actress and could pull him away from his intended target if she needed to. Now would be that moment to do so. Grinning brightly, as fake as it was—she and Loki both knew how fake it was –she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from whatever it was he was targeting. She either just saved someone's life or only bought them more time. Regardless, the longer she could distract him, the less people died.

"Come now, Loki, it is a party, after all." Aimee chided him gently, a faux disappointment in her tone. "I really would enjoy talking with you. A social event does require that."

He raised an eyebrow at her, hesitating for a moment, but followed after her anyways to the opposite side of the room where there was a plethora of people chattering with one another. "Does it truly require irrelevant and idle chat?" Humans often disgusted him, though it depended on who he was looking at. While he knew Aimee and her companions were far from completely human, only one or two ever did catch his eye. She was one of them. Such an odd being with such a fire she was. The girl was good and the demon was evil, yet she held an overall neutral presence and stance on everything. He had only believed her to be a conflicted soul, but then he uncovered Carmen within her. It was there that he decided to make things very interesting.

While it would be fun to see her fight against her teammates, something he would more than likely resort to in the end, he wanted to see her squirm helplessly first. She was the vessel of a creature that could overthrow Odin himself. It had been his foster father's one mistake when it came to his four pets. He had made them incredibly strong and, whether he intended it or not, he had made them stronger than himself. It was something that had been repeatedly proven when Carmen threw one of her infamous temper tantrums. Earth would not know of such fits, but most other planets did. From what he could remember, two had been destroyed by her unquenchable fires during the tantrum. Of course, there were others on purpose, by order of Odin. Carmen had always been a favorite war weapon.

Loki smirked to himself, enjoying the plots that whirled swiftly in his mind as he toyed with the idea of using the wolf as a war weapon. It would be for his purpose, but he first had to get the Mutt to boil. After he had gotten her to boil, he needed her to explode. Yes, it would be quite fun to watch Carmen usurp Aimee's authority and overthrow Odin's demands. In turn, it would most likely single-handedly decimate S.H.I.E.L.D.s little response team. While the other one—he could not recall her name –carried Tabitha, there was nothing else that could stop the wolf. If angered enough, and bewitched with his dark magic, Carmen would obliterate them and conquer the places he wanted so desperately to rule.

"What is it you wish to speak of with me?" He paused when she finally stopped, nestled in the center of a large group, most of which obscured his vision of his target. "Or shall I slaughter you now and just seize my prize?"

Aimee rolled her eyes. "You can try to kill me all you want. In the end, Carmen is on my side and won't allow me to die. As for what I wish to talk about, I wish to talk of you." She wasn't sure if it was an empty threat or an invitation for him to try.

"Me?"

She nodded. "What do you want with the Tesseract? Honestly, of what purpose is it to you? Based on legend and a few of the things Carmen has told me, the cube originally belonged to your species, the Frost Giants. It was seized by Odin when he defeated them in a war and has been in his treasure room for countless years. Then it fell to Earth, though I don't know how. Apparently, you are not here to retrieve it for him, so what do you want with it?"

He pursed his lips. She was an intelligent woman and knew more things than she needed to, but he supposed that it was the fault of Carmen. "I will tell you only because I respect the thorn."

"Be careful what you wish for." Her tone was venomous. _Just because someone respects the thorn doesn't mean the thorn respects them._ "Such words will not make us companions."

"I do not intend it, though you are a better ally than enemy, but you love these pathetic humans too much to realize your true potential." His tone nearly matched hers in ferocity. "I plan to open a door that will release my army into the world. I plan to seize this world, rule it like the king I am. Nothing you can do will ever stop me."

Her expression soured. "Are you sure you can win?"

He frowned, the confusion evident. "How do you mean?"

"It's a simple question, honestly." Aimee told him, her arms crossed tightly. "How can you expect to defeat the most stubborn people on this planet when all you offer in your offense and defense is a mere army? Whether they are human or inhuman doesn't matter. Alien or Asgardian doesn't matter. You would most likely have the advantage in number."

Loki's rage was growing steadily with her words. "Trust me; I have many more advantages than you and your pathetic, dull, and weak team."

Ignoring him, she continued, "Nothing is ever about quantity. It is about quality. Spirits here cannot be broken, whether you like it or not. Humans are a stubborn species, but so are the monsters that hide within the same society. Bri can drown your army, Steve can outlive it, Tony can explode it, Bruce can rip it to shreds, Natasha can slaughter it, Clint can outshoot it, and I can burn it. If anything, you are outnumbered because you lack the very things that are essential in being a ruler. You will fail."

She had spoken it with such conviction that it made him think. For the first time, his mind actually doubted whether or not he could do this at all. She made fair points, points he did not like in the slightest, and it worried him. He feared, for once, that she was allowing Carmen to cooperate with her. The wolf was far wicked than he and was far more capable of something like this. Had Carmen's own twisted thoughts combined themselves with the young woman's? If that was the case, then he was most certainly in trouble. He didn't want to think about it and strengthened his conviction in his actions once more. His target happened to be walking by, and he would take the opportunity to get away from her schemes.

"Once again, my dear," his voice was taut with a number of emotions, "but I must really excuse myself this time."

Loki swiftly stepped past her, harshly grabbing the arm of a suited man and dragging him aside. The man was bald and old, and Loki flipped him onto a nearby stone table. Pinning him down with one arm, the God of Lies retrieved a silver device from his coat pocket and clicked it open. Aimee's eyes widened, shocked that he would resort to such a thing when he could just kidnap the man and use him for whatever he needed. Instead, he stabbed him in the eye and hit the button. An irritating whirring noise was heard, much sharper to her sensitive ears, and screams burst out in the crowd. Upon the attack, the people in the building fled in terror. She was bumped against lightly as people passed, but she could only stand and stare, feeling somewhat queasy.

The room had emptied and he continued to drill into the man's face, so she retreated out the doors and behind a tree. She composed herself, although sickened by what she had just witnessed, and pressed her finger to the listening device in her ear, "Steve, I hope you can hear me. Get down here as soon as you can. He knows about Carmen, and I believe he's going to exploit it to his benefit. That and I cannot fight in a dress."

_"I'm right behind you, Aim. No worries."_

She wished it were that easy. Aimee remained behind the tree even as Loki exited the building, cornering all of the people with images conjured by magic. She could tell which was real, considering the illusions flickered faultily. He seemed to be in his traditional Asgardian clothing, with the horns and cloak included. The staff had returned into the scepter it had been in their first encounter. He preached to them, "Is not this simpler?"

_He's forced them to their knees, to kneel to him…_ She marveled at Loki's gall.

"Is this not your natural state?" He droned on. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity: that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power. It is your identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end…you will always kneel."

Peering around the bark of the tree she was concealed behind, she watched an elderly man get to his feet and announce, "Not to men like you."

Loki chuckled, "There are no men like me."

"There are always men like you." The old man shook his head disapprovingly.

She could see the slight irritation at the insubordination at the man's boldness, and Loki lifted the spear to point it at the man. "Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example." The crystal in the staff made the sound she recognized when it powered up before striking. From the memories of the room where the Tesseract had been, anyone human blasted by it would be obliterated into ash.

Debating it for a split second, Aimee summoned fire to her hand and emerged from her hiding place, aiming her arm up to strike Loki in the back. The people noticed her and he did not. He fired the weapon before she could react, but Steve made his appearance and deflected it with his shining shield. The shot reverberated from the shield and hit Loki with force, knocking him to the ground in the midst of the people. She could see from where she stood that his staff was only an arm's length away from where he lay. She whistled loudly and beckoned people from the places they kneeled, and they ran to her fearfully. She shooed them away, despite their interested eyes, and forced them to leave so the fight could ensue.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing over everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Steve said.

Loki had a snarl upon his face, but chuckled darkly, "The Soldier. The man out of time."

Steve smirked. "I'm not the one who's out of time."

Aimee kept the same distance as Steve, though from the opposite side, and balled the fire in her hand excitedly. Often times she would forget the exhilaration of a fight like this one. The extent of Carmen's powers was seemingly endless and such things would lose themselves in her mind so easily. It was hard to remember the thrill it brought her when she used them, especially when pure adrenaline pumped through her veins at an alarming rate. Whenever she would use these powers, she knew what it felt like to hunt prey as Carmen did. The excitement and victory that waited, even with the chance of failure, was incredible. It was a wonderful feeling, but one she was conflicted about. This is what made her a killer.

The plane she had been transported here on hovered over them, an automatic weapon lowering from its belly. Natasha could be heard over the PA system, "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

Ignoring the command given, he fired a shot towards the plan, but Natasha maneuvered it out of the way in time. Steve flung his shield, hitting Loki in the chest and caught it as it came back to him. As Loki struck out at him, Aimee grasped his arm and wrestled for the staff. Steve came after him, but he was kicked into one of the concrete rises containing the tree she had hidden behind. Grappling for the staff, he pulled at her hands as she attempted to rip it from him, but her hold would not give way. Her palms seared with fire, burning through his clothing and bringing the overbearing heat straight to his skin. Crying out in surprise, he kicked out her legs from beneath her, leaving her on the ground. He hovered over her with his staff to her neck.

"Well, this is a familiar position."

"Yes, except I can actually kick your ass this time."

She took the pause between them and reared her heel into his stomach, making sure the thinner point of the shoe would pierce his belly harshly. It didn't break skin, but he made a guttural sound that indicated his pain. He was suddenly whipped away from her, but she didn't have her hand on the staff, so she lost it as Steve took him aside. There was a flurry of punches thrown between the two of them before she could reach them. Even as she did, Steve was thrown into her with a power they didn't expect. The pair flew backwards and hit the concrete hard. His shield went another direction, out of their reach enough to give Loki an advantage. The God of Lies got to his feet and aimed a deadly blow at them.

A figure flashed out of nowhere. Burly and light blue, it tackled Loki to the side, separating him from his staff. Iron Man, aka Tony Stark, picked the staff away and landed nearby. Aimee and Steve got up in time to watch the massive saber-toothed cat pin Loki onto his back with a paw larger than his head. It was Bri, in the form Tabitha had. She and Aimee could transform into their demons while relinquishing control, but with Aimee and Carmen, that was less of a possibility. The nice thing about Bri and Tabitha's relationship was that they actually like each other and could get along. This was not a form she took often. Aimee had seen it used quite a few times, though, and every time she could not help but marvel at the sight of the cat.

Tony pointed a number of weapons at Loki. "Make your move, Reindeer Games."

Flames flared up Aimee's hands as she stood beside Tony and Steve collected his shield beside Bri, who growled threateningly in his face and kneaded her claws into the fabric of his shirt. It was a warning, stating if he tried anything, she wouldn't hesitate to rip his heart from his chest. Bri was an assassin the same as Aimee. Tabitha didn't care for it, but she loved Bri with all of her heart and would not go against her wishes. Besides, protecting people was her job. She was the Goddess of Life, after all, of healing and other things, too. Carmen had turned sour throughout their childhood, for reasons the wolf's host did not know. She didn't really care to know, though, but she had learned that Bri knew basically everything about Tabitha because she had befriended the cat. Even now, the thought of befriending Carmen, as distasteful as it was, crossed her mind and seemed like a good idea.

Loki put his hands up in surrender, returning to the clothing he had arrived in. His cape and headgear vanished. Tony lowered his weapons, "Good move."

Bri snarled once in his face, then stepped back, communicating through speech, though her mouth did not move, "You have a lot of gall to do such a thing to these people, Loki."

"So I have been told," was all he said.

Natasha lowered the plane and opened the rear hatch. Bri returned to her human form, wearing black pants, a light blue shirt, and black boots. The S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia was on the back in reflective material that matched the color of the shirt, wavering like water every time she moved. Aimee was given clothes much like it, though with red instead of blue. It was new to her, but the fabric was stretchy and comfortable. It was impenetrable by bullets, she had been told, but she doubted such. Although, she would not put it past Nick's scientists to be able to create something like this. It was entirely possible, just difficult to believe because it was not standard-issue.

After she had finished changing, they entered the aircraft in silence, strapping Loki into one of the seats towards the hatch. If they needed to, they could throw him out. He could not fly, though they were doubtful his magic could even save him, and it would be an easy way to solve the problem. Bri chatted with Natasha while Aimee, Steve, and Tony did the same with one another. They stood in a small circle, intense gazes focused on the God of Lies, watching for any movement that would allow them to predict his actions. Something didn't settle well with the three of them nor did it settle well with the three in the front end of the plane.

Steve was the first to speak of it, his voice lowered, "I don't like it."

"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony posed.

Aimee nodded. "He just quit when Bri pinned him…almost as if he knew better than to challenge her." It just struck her as odd.

"Yeah, but I don't remember it ever being that easy." Steve muttered. "This guy packs a wallop."

Aimee almost laughed at his use of words, but Tony carried on, "Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow. What's your thing, Pilates?"

"What?" The Captain was lost.

"You may have missed a few things doing time as a…capsicle."

The conversation was rather humorous to Aimee, and it was all she could do to keep from laughing. She simply grinned instead. Harsh lightning flashed in the sky, lighting everything up and nearly striking the aircraft they rested in. Loki gazed around warily, seemingly spooked by the sudden flash. She had to think about why, of all things, he would be afraid of lightning. Perhaps it wasn't the lightning he was afraid of. It could be something else; she just couldn't immediately assume what it was. Tony and Steve also noticed his sudden uneasiness. They appeared amused that someone so bad and strong was afraid of something so trivial.

"You're not scared of a little lightning, are you?" Steve mocked.

Loki looked at them, genuine displeasure on his face. "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

Bri had come up to Tony's other side, exchanging a knowing glance with Aimee. The backs of their necks tingled uncomfortably and they cursed simultaneously, "Shit."


	4. From Out of Nowhere

| 4 |

| . FROM . OUT . OF . NOWHERE . |

The strike came out of nowhere, rattling the aircraft as it hit. Well, as he hit. Bri and Aimee both knew who it was that suddenly decided to make an appearance. Of course, it was Thor and their stomachs dropped because of this fact. He was here for Loki and they weren't surprised. Even Aimee, as doubtful as she had been about Thor appearing in the first place, had expected it of the All-Father to send him here. Now, whether this was a good thing or not, they couldn't be sure. Thor was a friendly, definitely not an enemy to the world, but there was the chance he could jeopardize the mission. If he freed Loki or took him back to Asgard, many things would be lost. The Tesseract was among them, but also Erik and Clint.

They watched Tony hook his mask back onto his face and then pace to the rear hatch. Pressing a small button upon the control panel, the hatch opened and revealed them all to the full force of the lightning storm outside. Thor landed upon the small platform, for a moment seeming to jar it, and he stood. Tony stepped forward to challenge him and instead was pushed back as Thor hit him with his hammer, thrown back into Steve and Bri. The three of them went to the ground quickly and Natasha could only stare as she steered the aircraft. Aimee sidestepped the mess and scrambled to stand protectively in front of Loki as his brother turned towards him.

She only stood to just above his shoulders –barely, but she was nearly as tall as Loki—and such a thing didn't faze her. Her smoky eyes were firm, her position solid. She wasn't going to move. "Thor…"

"Aimee…" He seemed slightly surprised of her defiance. "I ask of you to remove yourself from this position. You do not know what you are involving yourself with."

"Your _brother,_" she spat the word, her volume low, "shattered my femur bone and somehow discovered Carmen. I don't care what I am involving myself in because he is threatening my world and threatening things I love. I am not about to stand by and watch him destroy them." Her tone was harsh, vicious and venomous as she reverted to a much worse side of herself. Carmen's voice laced within Aimee's, but barely, as she was still accustoming to using the wolf's power again.

Thor glanced at Loki, who seemed just as surprised that she was defending him, and then looked back to her. "I am afraid I will have to take him."

He forced his way past her and ripped Loki from his seat. With a harsh grunt, he jumped from the aircraft. Lashing out, she grabbed at his flowing red cape, which dragged her along with them. The wind whipped painfully at her body as she struggled to hold on. Thor didn't seem to notice her presence, which was a good thing for the most part, and they neared the ground at an alarming rate. Her heart pounded in her chest, eyes watering at the speed they traveled. She tried, though, to glance around and see where she could land before Thor figured out she was there. Loki seemed to see her, but his face was gripped by one of Thor's hands.

Aimee muttered something incoherent as the ground approached them, then let go when they were close. She landed hard on her feet, only something to brace with, about fifteen feet from where Thor threw Loki onto the ground. She rolled from there, tumbling over small stones that punctured her skin, leaving small dots of blood as well as bruises. Underbrush clung to her clothes and hair as she came to a stop near the edge of the cliff. The wind had been knocked from her lungs, pulled out like a hair from the head. Her back arched from the ground and she grimaced painfully until she was able to breathe once more.

It seemed like ages before she could regain her senses, but it was only a few seconds until she heard Thor and Loki begin speaking. Loki groaned from where he lay on the ground, having been pushed down rather hard. Thor stood there with a strong stance, a looming threat. "Where is the Tesseract?"

Loki chuckled, "Oh, I missed you, too."

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" The God of Thunder growled, stalking a tad closer to his brother, a fire in his eyes.

"Oh, you should thank me." Loki said to him, bringing himself slowly to his feet. "With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the All-Father have to muster to conjure you here, your precious Earth?" The childish need for revenge could be heard as he spoke.

Thor dropped his hammer in anger, rushing over to his brother and seizing him by the collar. "I thought you dead."

He was silent for a moment. "Did you mourn?"

"We all did. Our father—"

Loki cut him off icily, "_Your_ father." He broke away from his brother, taking a few steps past him. Aimee scrambled behind a stone, trying to remain out of sight. "He told you my true parentage, did he not?"

"We were raised together, we played together, we fought together," he seemed to emphasize certain words as though to bring back memories, "do you remember none of that?"

His brother snapped, "I remember a shadow… Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss: I, who was, and should be king."

Aimee blinked. _ I know some of what that's like…_

She knew very well what it was like to be undermined, ignored, and shoved aside for a number of reasons. While she'd had Bri by her side her entire life, a support system she found hard to cope without, there was a point in time when neither of the girls believed they could do anything. No one wanted them, either because of their age or because of their attitude, which was quite prominent in their younger years. However, along came a man who went by the name Cobalt. Neither understood why he had that name, other than his cobalt blue fingernails, but they did not judge him upon that. At the time, he had seemed so kind and caring, only wishing to help the two freaks of nature. He told them he could solve their problems, make them worthwhile.

The girls had been overjoyed and they were glad to have a purpose, but it was something they had rushed into so quickly. Bri had always been more skilled at things than Aimee was, especially when it came to healing and weapons, whereas Aimee could only put up a physical fight. Weapons, and healing especially, were far beyond her skill set. She was more suited as an assassin, one to get into things physically than take them out even from a short distance. Bri was praised a lot, though, and while she celebrated for her friend, she was in pain. She only wanted to be recognized that she could do something as well, and her time came eventually.

In the end, though, the pair of them only ended up on S.H.I.E.L.D.s radar in a very horrible way, one neither of them even talked about. Nowadays, they doubted there was a single agent in the division that didn't know of who they were and how they became a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. Sometimes, it could be a gratifying thing, because they were both recognized equally, but it was also a pain to find a decent sparring partner when one or the other wasn't around for the day. They both knew the pain of getting doors slammed in their faces time and time again, living in the shadow of someone else's glory, doing just as much work and deserving just as much as that other person, yet getting nothing out of it. They had come to an agreement, though:

It was the price paid when carrying a demon.

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights?" Thor stated. "No, the Earth is under my protection, Loki."

Loki laughed mockingly. "And you're doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret. I mean to rule them, and why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them?"

He seemed slightly taken aback. "Well, yes."

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother." The God of Thunder murmured. "The throne would suit you ill."

Loki snarled, stalking past him, "I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile. I've seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it…"

That sentence scared her. She had the feeling Loki was completely capable of pulling off his little scheme. Something in the back of her mind warned her that no matter how hard any of them tried, they would not be able to stop him. She pushed that voice away, though, refusing to listen to something she didn't want to believe. The Earth was her home and she didn't have anywhere else she wanted to go if it were to be blown to smithereens. Having Carmen within her meant she could have the ability to travel from realm to realm, but with difficulty. The beast had enough power to do so, but that didn't mean she wanted to go anywhere else. She was born her and would stay here until its end. That was her decision, and she wouldn't lose grasp of what she loved.

Thor interrupted, "Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be king?"

"I am a king!"

Thor grabbed his shoulders. "Not here! Give up the Tesseract! Give up this poisonous dream! You come home…"

"I don't have it." Loki smirked a little. Thor grunted and summoned his hammer to his hand, but his brother carried on, "You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off I know not where."

He pointed the hammer, holding it in front of Loki's face. "You listen well, brother—"

As if on some ironic cue, a bright flash of gold and hot rod red whipped by without warning. Thor was taken from the cliff edge and down into the forest, smashing through trees and snapping them in half as he went down. The fire that streamed behind the person's feet only indicated it was Tony, and that he clearly wasn't happy with Thor's decision to steal the God of Lies from his hands. The man was rather possessive of the things he considered his, something Aimee was well aware of. Whether or not he loved his family now, he had always loved his sister and, in turn, her best friend. Tony had forgiven her for the thing she did to them and she appreciated it, but she still found him somewhat protective over two full-grown women that could clearly care for themselves.

Loki smiled mockingly at the place his brother had just been, then said, "I'm listening."

Aimee rolled her eyes. Even though he was against his brother, Loki still seemed to harbor some harmless sibling rivalry with Thor when it came to teasing. It was something she knew with her own blood siblings until she was disowned and it had been something she had done with Bri when they had grown up. It was times that she missed dearly, but she could not afford to reminisce now. She got to her feet carefully, stepping out from behind her hiding place in silence. Loki's back was to her and she glanced up, seeing a small dot slowly growing bigger far above where they were, though it was only visible whenever the lightning flashed. She assumed it was either Bri or Steve, though most likely the latter. If anything else decided to attack Natasha and the ship, it needed at least one person to defend it, though she knew they would be fine.

She stared at Loki's back for a few minutes. She only needed to make sure he would not attempt to escape, though he didn't seem keen to do so at all, which confused her. He had the perfect opportunity to run from them, find himself a safe place to remain until he could return to his minions, but he wasn't doing so. She added it to the equation slowly building in her head, setting it alongside why he gave up so easily, something else she didn't understand. It was normal when you were the bad guy and you fought against being captured, whether you succeeded or not. Then there was being captured and having the perfect opportunity to run away and not doing it. Her mind wracked hard, but she couldn't seem to get a decent grasp on the idea. She stopped before she gave herself a headache.

"What is it you ponder so arduously over?"

The voice broke her from her thoughts and she blinked to find Loki watching her, mere feet from her instead of where he had just been. "I think about many things. The brain has an amazing capacity."

He smiled slightly, stepping closer. "Indeed, the brain is quite incredible. What sort of things do you think of in this moment? I seem to have broken your concentration."

"More like confusion. I just wonder why you gave up so easily." She muttered.

"Gave up? Oh, no, it is you and your team that captured me." There was the clear tone of a lie in his voice, something she had little issue detecting. "Now, I do not try to escape for I am aware you are here to stop me from doing such. Besides, there is no point in running if there are enough people around me that are quite capable of killing me."

Aimee frowned, glaring daggers, and didn't move as his face was a few inches from hers. "And yet you are fully aware we will not kill you, because we need you for the cube. I know you don't know where it is, but your, uh, minions," she didn't like calling Clint and Erik such, "are bound to come for you eventually. If anything, we could make a trade. Without the cube, you have no purpose."

He studied her. "No, it is not a possible thing for you to trade me for the Tesseract. Those people have their specific orders and they will execute them. Besides, I cannot be killed by mere might of a human."

"Well, I'm not necessarily human." She muttered angrily, growing infuriated with his indirect answers. She knew he was planning something that would probably tear them apart, but she couldn't tell what. As mentioned before, she was horrible at deciphering puzzles. "Director Fury promised I could kill you the moment we get our hands on the Tesseract. If you are not careful, that moment may come sooner than you or he intend."

Normally, Aimee would not make such a threat, but there was a protective side of her that roared like a vicious flame. It consumed all reason she had like a forest, eating away at the weak pieces and destroying everything it could. It was a part of Carmen and it was a part of her. It was an attribute she had always carried from even before she knew she carried the beast within her, something that came naturally to her. In a way, it was almost fitting that she was the host of a wolf demon, since the females seemed to be particularly protective of the things they loved. Sometimes, though, it could get out of control without warning and would overthrow any sense she did have. Such situations almost always ended in disaster.

The brunette tried to keep her breathing steady. Having Loki so close to her was rather strange, at least this time around, and she couldn't pinpoint why. It gave her an immediate headache to try and figure it out. She felt…pity? She didn't know, but it was an uncomfortable feeling in her chest and her stomach. She was urged to lay him out on the cliff top and yet something held her back from doing so. The feeling was strange. It tingled in her limbs and seemed to pull the breath right from her lungs, leaving her with a sense of floating, like a feather. As odd and uncomfortable as it was, she couldn't necessarily say she didn't like the emotion. It was a new emotion to her, at least in some sense, but she enjoyed it in a strange way.

"What are you thinking of now?" His voice was gentle, and his gaze had softened.

Aimee shook her head almost defiantly, as though to force the thought from her head. That was not something she could do, let alone wanted to do. Did she want to do it? Her body seemed to want to, but her mind was conflicted. She couldn't kiss him, even though she felt compelled to do so, and Carmen wasn't objecting to the thoughts in her mind. It didn't add up to her and she was so confused, but she wouldn't do it. She couldn't, as much as she wanted to do so. She hesitated in answering him. She didn't really know how to tell the man who was threatening to take over her world that she wanted to kiss him and that she was thinking of how she was going to stop herself from doing so. She made a mental note to ask someone who knew about this sort of thing later. Clearly, in her forty or so years of life, she had never once had such thoughts. Preoccupations seemed to get in the way.

"It's none of your business what goes on in my head." She snapped, intending to push him away.

Loki raised his eyebrows and lifted his hands in slight surrender, but didn't move from where he was standing. He was curious to see if she would return to thinking and possibly doing whatever she was thinking of. "I understand such boundaries are not to be breached, even if we are enemies. I would not hesitate in using it on your teammates, though."

Aimee furrowed her brow. "Why wouldn't you hesitate invading their minds, which I'm sure takes an ass-load of energy, and not bother invading mine?"

"As odd as it sounds, I am interested in trying something with you." He was pleased with her wary and almost fearful expression. "Honestly, I want to see if I can provoke Carmen to overthrow your control and have her destroy everything for me, but I know the Mutt has more sense than that. Invading your mind would only make her wish to make a pact with you, a treaty that would allow you to get along for a while or even forever, which would put me at a disadvantage. I doubt you two will be getting along anytime soon, so there are things I plan for you. In the end, you may end up ruling by my side."

She growled. "I would love to see you try to get me to rule with you."

"Give me my scepter and I can make such happen."

Aimee scoffed, bringing the fire to her palms as though to strike him and burn his skin, but the eerie silence made her stop. Pausing a moment, she sniffed at the air and found the others were done fighting with Thor. She had been right about Steve jumping down from the place, which meant Bri was still with Natasha. Swallowing the hard lump in her throat, she backed away from Loki and waited patiently as the others came to the top of the cliff to join them. Steve immediately went to Aimee's side, glancing between her and Loki with concern. The sound of the aircraft approaching them over the wind broke the brunette's intense stare. If looks could kill, the God of Lies would most certainly be dead, maimed in the most horrid ways she could even think of.

Thor forcefully shoved Loki back into the aircraft and he was strapped into the seat he had been in before. Everyone else filed on silently, hardly a word passing between anyone except Bri and Tony. His sister reprimanded him for being the usual idiot she often found him to be. Thor and Steve began exchanging small words, though she was sure Steve was rather lost throughout the conversation. Speaking to a person from another planet was difficult to do, considering the differences in just about everything. Aimee was sure the only relation they shared was horses and that was it. There were weapons as well, but even then, there were things that didn't match. It was a complicated relationship, yet the Earth had made it work.

Aimee sat quietly in one of the seats, observing the others with her dull orange eyes, black lining between the orange like the wood in a fire; it was tinged lightly with ashy white. It was simmering, but her emotions were on high and her mind was turning like a windmill. It was one of those moments where a wind could cause her to burst into flame, though only because her concentration was so deep. Her vigil didn't go unnoticed. Steve glanced at her occasionally, which turned a few other heads at some points, though it wasn't minded for the most part. Other than that, the only sound was that of the wind whirling restlessly around the small plane.

It was a matter of an hour or so before they reached the Helicarrier, where they each quickly dismounted and stretched out. They were hustled inside and to the meeting table that was centered upon the small platform above the rest of the computers used to control the flying carrier ship. Thor stood to the side, Steve and Natasha sat down, Bri beside her, and Aimee rested in a chair of her own on the other side of Steve. Bruce stood behind them, watching the table as it showed them footage of Loki being put into his cage, a cage meant for the Hulk or even for Carmen if it came to it. Nick demonstrated what would happen if he even scratched the glass.

"It's an impressive cage," Loki said, flexing out his arms as if to gesture at its glass walls, "but not built, I think, for me."

Nick's face revealed no emotion. "It was built for something a lot stronger than you."

He turned his face at the camera. "Yes, I've heard. Of which, though? Of an uncontrollable beast that makes play he's still a man? Or…is it the lovely young woman who carries such a dark force? I am surprised she isn't already in this cage."

"Agent Serasio can handle Carmen fine on her own. She isn't the bad guy here."

Loki smirked. "Not yet, she isn't."

Nick sighed, "You really want to push that woman's buttons? Be my guest. She won't be your friend anytime soon for it. Now, I would appreciate it if you returned the Tesseract to us."

He stared at the Director for a moment, analyzing him. "It burns you to have come so close, to have it in the palm of your hand, and then to be reminded what real power is."

Nick wasn't going to get anywhere, and he seemed to be aware of that. Before he left the room, he muttered, "Well, let me know if "real power" wants a magazine or something."

The screen disappeared before them and there was a moment of silence before Nick entered the room. Then the chatter began.

"Loki intends to rile us up." Steve stated.

Bruce shook his head, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "I don't think we should be worrying about Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats; you can smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak." Thor said to him. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha blatantly said.

The God of Thunder seemed to rebuke his statement. "He's adopted…"

Aimee almost smiled. "That being said, we need to focus on finding the Tesseract. In Stuttgart, he provided a distraction for Hawkeye. He got his hands on something."

"Yes," Bruce agreed, "and it's called iridium. What does he need the iridium for, though?"

"It's a stabilizing agent." Tony answered as he strutted into the room, passing next to Thor and patting his arm. "You got a mean swing." Then, he continued as he walked over to Nick's normal standing place, glancing around at the screens. "It means the portal will open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants it to."

"When did you become an expert in astrophysics?" Maria Hill demanded.

"Last night." Tony smirked. "Am I the only one who did the reading?" He covered one eye and tried to look at the screens again. "How does Fury see these?"

"He turns."

"Sounds exhausting." He walked up the steps and began blabbering nonsense about the astrophysics he learned about the night before, getting Bruce to pitch in. "Finally, someone who speaks English."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Is that what that just was?"

"Dr. Banner, I am a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster." He received criticizing glances from everyone else.

Nick chided him, "Dr. Banner is only here to locate the Tesseract. I was hoping you might join him."

"I don't know about how to find it, but I would start with that glowing stick of his." Steve pondered aloud. "It works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that," Nick said, "but it is powered by the Tesseract. I need you to find it as soon as you can. Everyone else is dismissed until we figure out how to get Loki to talk."

"Thor, what's his play?" Aimee asked.

Thor turned to face them. "He has an army called the Chitauri. He intends to use them to take over your planet in exchange, I would believe, for the Tesseract."

Bri nodded. "So, an exchange? A cube for billions of lives, but it doesn't seem right to me."

"I know the feeling. Those of you who want to rest, I suggest you go and get it now while we figure out an interrogation for that monster in there." Nick commanded it like an order.

Bruce and Tony went off into the lab with Bri in close pursuit, Natasha went elsewhere, and Steve stayed where he was as well as Thor. Aimee sighed and retreated through the hallways, heading towards the room she had been issued. Once there, she didn't hesitate to throw herself onto the small bed in the corner. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world –it certainly wasn't her king sized mattress in her cliff-side home—but it was the only thing she had to sleep on at the moment. It would all be over soon, and she rolled onto her back to stare at the drab gray ceiling while she pondered it. How long would it take them to defeat Loki and restore peace? However, what if they couldn't defeat him? At that point, how long would this mess continue to occur?

She sighed and rubbed her hands over her face, rolling to the side and stuffing her cheek into the pillow. Clenching her jaw, her brow furrowed angrily, not wanting to do what she was considering even doing. Something Loki said to her earlier had made her think and she really did want to know if it would work. After all, life would probably be a hell of a lot easier if she and Carmen actually got along. Besides, the fact that he said it would never happen made her want to desperately prove him wrong. She was competitive and really hated losing, especially to someone like him. Easily, she was able to make up her mind.

Aimee closed her eyes and slipped into darkness.

The darkness was like an impenetrable fog. No matter how hard her eyes strained to gather any source of light there could possibly be in the area, she could find none and it greatly frustrated her. It was almost suffocating to be in such blackness, but she persevered and walked forward into the nothingness. This was something along the lines of her inner conscience. It was technically the place Carmen was trapped within her, and it wasn't a place so easily escapable. There was really no end to this area of her mind, so unvisited, and it was no wonder the wolf loved it most. However, the last time she had been here, things had not gone so well.

There was a soft glow ahead and she went to it, the light quickly enveloping and blinding her. As she opened her eyes to blink away the stars she was seeing, before her was a vast field with trees around the outer edges. A lone buck rested in the center of the field, gnawing on the grass at its feet and clearly oblivious to her. There was a gentle wind that rocked the grasses back and forth. There were few clouds in the sky and the sun was shining behind them. It was warm, something she expected of Carmen, and even the breeze was warm. The creature craved warmth as though it would run out tomorrow. Maybe this was the reason for her slightly elevated body temperature.

Aimee didn't make any move to startle the deer and paced over to a nearby boulder, sitting down upon it and crossing her ankles patiently. There was a silky yellow dress wrapped around her body, which would probably be a good thing, since the last dress she'd been in while here was flaring red. There were many stages to Carmen's wrath, but she only knew red to be the worst and yellow to be the calmest. She assumed it worked the same way as her eyes. When there was truly no regaining her, the only color there was red, and when she was completely calm, the color was ashy grey. The latter meant the fire had gone out and there was little hope of revival unless you took a match to it.

Eagerly, she watched a dark figure emerge from the trees. It was a wolf of massive proportions, much taller and of far more girth than the buck she was stalking. The ebony fur was decorated with various tribal-like symbols that were red in color. They looked like blood from this distance, as did her eyes. Carmen's eyes were always that fiery red hue, something that made her extremely intimidating. In several swift and almost invisible movements, the wolf took down and killed the deer with a carefully placed bite to the neck. A sense of exhilaration swept through Aimee, something she often felt when she was on a hunt of her own. Being here, though, the pair of them were connected to an extreme point rather than when she was outside this place.

Leaving the carcass where it was, the wolf didn't hesitate to stalk over to Aimee. In this stage, she was about ten feet tall and a little longer, but she was just plain _massive_. There were little restrictions to the amount of just how much there was of her. It was rather incredible, really, and even now, this wasn't even close to the biggest she could get. At her full size, Carmen could probably reach several miles high. If it had to be said easier, she could crush half of Manhattan by lying down on her stomach. That was the power of gods and goddesses, though, and it still amazed her to no extent. Calmly, the wolf sat down in front of the girl and wrapped her tail around her paws.

She scrutinized her for a moment. "You have questions, child."

"Yeah, I have a lot of questions." Aimee chuckled a bit, trying to keep the situation calm, unknowing of when the beast would turn into a raging monster. "Loki said something to me…about how we would never get along and how that would be the downfall of the world." When she received nothing in response, she continued, "I have always seemed to hate you, always seemed to believe your sins were my fault when they weren't, and it's gotten in the way."

"What are you trying to say?" Her voice was almost calm and welcoming, something that could be heard normally, but just refused to be heard. However, there was always a hint of readiness. That readiness could be for anything.

She hesitated. "I am saying that…I want to be your friend, not your enemy or just your vessel. I want to be able to work with you. I want to know your story, but it's not something I can do right now. When this whole mess is over, I would love to hear it. I need your help with something first."

Her heart pounded erratically in her chest. She wanted nothing more than to be friends with Carmen, something she had felt a very long time ago before she was forced to believe other things. At first, she hadn't seemed like such a bad creature, especially when getting over the initial shock of her even being there. Then, things had begun to go south and it destroyed a foundation that would never be repaired. She was out on a limb now, trying to build a new foundation on top of the old one. That was a huge risk for her. As much as she acted to be in total control of Carmen, the wolf still had power and Aimee feared her for it.

If the wolf didn't accept the advances, she believed she was as good as dead.

Carmen smiled some, the corner of her maw lifting to show some of her white teeth. "I have only been so difficult with you because you rejected my friendly advances long ago, but I understand. It was when _that man_ had his talons in you."

Aimee grimaced, but there was a relieved breath escaping from her lips. "Yeah, him. I would prefer never to remember that bastard ever again. I do apologize. I came to this conclusion when I saw the other day Bri was still getting along with Tabitha. She shifted into her and attacked Loki."

"Yes, but Tabitha is far different than I. You will need to accept that I have not always been a good being and that will be difficult to change, even for you, but we are both willing to attempt it." She paused a moment to allow it to sink in, allow the truth in her words to make their impact. "Now, what do you need my assistance with? Do I get to come out and sink my teeth into someone?"

"Not yet, but the time will come when that is necessary, especially if Loki manages to get his army here." She replied. "He won't tell us what we need to know. We need to interrogate him, but we don't know how. Natasha is good at interrogation and I don't doubt she can get what she needs from him. It feels like he is the only person who wants to be on the ship."

Carmen allowed things to fall silent and she hummed, making her chest rumbling comfortably as she pondered. Aimee noticed the dress had changed to an ash-gray color, which calmed her nerves considerably. There were no flecks of orange or red, which would normally indicate that Carmen was in a barely restful state. The dress was a warning device for her, something that the wolf could never keep out of her miniature worlds. She created it as a part of her deal with Odin. If she were to lose control, then at least her vessel had some heads up and obtained the chance to escape before things got out of hand. She couldn't be killed here or physically harmed, but it would do mental damage.

"I believe you need to go talk to Loki."

"What?"

Carmen seemed to nod to herself. "Speak with him. I know of your urges earlier in the day and I have suspicions about them. Your body generated them on its own, but I felt the same reaction in that irritable boy before he provoked you to fight him. I believe he cares for you. It is not something he would ever admit and I know this. I spent a lot of time being his and Thor's jungle gym alongside my siblings. I know the pair of them about as well as their mother does."

Aimee was confused. "I don't understand…why would he care in the slightest for me? I'm his enemy and I've threatened to kill him multiple times."

She laughed, a deep sound that seemed to reverberate through the area. "Child, you seem to misunderstand what this kind of love is. Loki may be a monster, but inside, he is still a young child craving the attention he never received."

"Are you implying he loves me?"

"I am implying it is a possibility." She corrected. "I believe he sees something different in you that he can relate to. Even monsters have someone to love. I do."

She thought about it for a moment, then smiled at Carmen, "Oh, and who is it you love?"

Carmen snorted lightly, lowering her head to the brunette's level. "That is a story for another day. Now, do as I have instructed of you and all should go well. We will see what kind of information we can get out of him. Be bold, young one, for it may be your saving grace."

"I hope so." Aimee stood as she said it, then leaned over and kissed the wolf's nose. "Farewell for now, Carmen. I will keep in touch."


	5. Even If I Could

| 5 |

| . EVEN . IF . I . COULD . |

Aimee sighed, dodging people as she went through the halls of the Helicarrier. The last thing she wanted was to be caught by Nick and told she couldn't interrogate Loki, though she didn't know if he would even have a solid reason for it. She wasn't truly biased and she would even be useful in getting information out of him. She passed by the lab, being sure not to look directly in so Bruce and Tony wouldn't see her, and she glanced in anyway. They were still there, chattering about something with Steve and Bri, hopefully still tracking the cube. If anything, finding it was more of a priority than interrogating Loki, but she felt it could help.

She knew the room he was being kept in, for it was something she had been shown many times in order to deter her from thinking about letting Carmen get the better of her, and she found it with ease. Being sure the rest of the hall was empty –there were cameras, but they wouldn't catch her fast enough; the door would be long sealed shut—she slipped into the room and closed the door tightly behind her, closing the seal and locking it securely. It would keep people out, even though the door stood little chance for someone like Bri or even Steve. The old man certainly still had the ability to pull a steel door off its hinges. She only needed time.

Her steps up the small set of stairs were silent, though she could pick up the slight 'clink' as her boots made contact with the metal, and she paced around to where the door of the cage was. At first, his back had been to her, but he had turned to hold her incinerating gaze of dull flames as she approached the area she needed to be. For several minutes, there were no words between them and she looked longingly at the computer screen nearby, debating whether or not to go into the cage herself. Acting on impulse, she went over to it, hit a few select buttons and set a timer, then hit a final button.

The door to the cage opened and she took long strides to the inside, beating the door just as it closed behind her. Immediately, all walls were out of the way and she stood there. There were a multitude of expressions on his face. She wouldn't be surprised if he had suddenly taken her earlier words seriously, that she was there to kill him because he had pissed her off to no extent. There also seemed to be some thoughts in his head that he could take advantage of her here. She wouldn't allow it to happen, though, and she still only had a certain amount of time even though she had locked herself in the room and in the cage.

Loki continued to gaze at her warily. "Why are you here?"

Aimee swung her arms a bit and went to the bent that was built into the cage, sitting down and pressing her back to one of the four pillars that held the glass together. "I am in here so we can talk."

"You are not in here to kill me?" He appeared a tad surprised at it.

She shook her head. "No. I just want to talk, and we had better get started because I only have a limited amount of time in here before they come to bust me out."

Carefully, Loki sat opposite of her and kept his hands in plain sight. "What is it you wish to talk about?"

"Anything, really." She shrugged, realizing that she hadn't really come in with a topic planned. "Why do you want to take over the Earth?"

"Because I feel like it."

"You're supposed to be the God of Lies and yet I do not believe you." Aimee fiddled with her fingers for a second. "Carmen tells me you're a mere child who is needy of the attention you never received."

He frowned. "I do not believe that is of any concern to y—"

"I know the feeling." When he raised an eyebrow at her, she went on, "My family disowned me years ago and refuse to talk to me or have anything to do with me. Throughout my entire life, I have never felt loved by the people who I loved the most, except Bri. She is my closest friend, my sister." The red-head was even her secret lover, but that had been a joke from other times. "Do you feel lonely and rejected?"

Loki was quiet, and then sighed, "I have my moments, but I have risen above such childish emotions. But, I like this, so let us talk about you." The last thing she wanted to discuss was her, and he could easily tell that. "Why is there such bad blood between you and Agent LeBeau?"

Aimee's expression hardened. "It isn't a topic I enjoy talking about."

"Well, if that is all you have to say, then that is all I have to say."

_Damn him._ She cursed, touching at Carmen's mind to ask for help.

_**"Just tell him, child. You need to release that hatred pent up inside of you. Tell him something that will catch him off-guard. Then, kill him."**_

She rolled her eyes. _I am not going to kill him…..yet._ "Are you sure you want to know?"

His brow furrowed in confusion. "Should I not? Tell me this tale, regardless, as I would love to know of this."

"The reason Bri hates me so much…" Aimee chewed on the inside of her cheek and closed her eyes, breathing in tightly, and carried on, "is because I killed her first-born son."

She dove into the tale before she could see the reaction on his face:

_I remember the day so clearly, as though it's been imprinted in my brain with a hot iron. It had been just another beautiful day and Bri had asked me to watch her son, Lucas, while she went and did something with her husband. We had spent the day walking around the park, eating hot dogs and eventually ice cream. It was a fun day and it was the only part of the day that I really cannot complain about. I loved that little boy with all my heart. He was only eight at the time and he was the sweetest thing on the planet, in my opinion. No one could attempt to convince me any different. I wouldn't have it._

_ Most of the day was difficult, though, because there was always something off. Someone was following us and I would occasionally catch glimpses of them nearby. They wore matching black clothing and glasses, so they weren't necessarily identifiable. I thought nothing of it. At the time, I had been more confident in using the abilities Carmen would grant me when I demanded them of her, but I hadn't expected what would happen at that point. I figured we would be safe if they bothered to come after us. They smelled and appeared human. I was wrong, though, and it's one of the many mistakes I will regret for the rest of my possibly eternal days._

_ After spending so much time at the park, we grew bored and decided to head back to Bri's home, where all of his toys were. I had a key, so it was easy to get it. When it got close to dinner, he said he wanted to have a picnic. Picnics were one of his most favorite things in the world. He would constantly gather us and demand a picnic for lunch or even for a snack. He just loved them, even though we didn't understand why most of the time, and we made a picnic with him anyways. It made him smile and he adored spending time with us like that. It was something we went along with. It was fun, though, I must admit, and I think I miss it most._

_ We were in the backyard, eating our dinner and we had almost finished when the two men I had seen earlier decided to make an appearance in the yard. For a moment, I didn't understand what they were doing there and I was on my feet instantly. They said nothing, and then they attacked. I don't remember much of the actual fight –it's something I've pushed into the depths of my memory—but I do remember that it was one of the most difficult fights I've had. I was unprepared for it and I had underestimated them. I quickly found out that they were not human and that they were not after me. They were after Lucas, and when I discovered that, it set me off._

_ I lost control and Carmen took over, feeling the need to protect me before I was killed. It was not in her interest to protect Lucas, even though it had been my priority. I was present, though. I could have been fully capable of taking control back and I didn't, because I thought it was better to let Carmen handle them. I was horribly wrong. They went after him and she came out of nowhere, attacking them with the full force of her rage and power. In the midst of it, Lucas got in the way and I ripped half of his face off as well as his throat. There were also other various wounds, but there was one thing I knew:_

_ Lucas was dead and I had killed him._

_ Once the strangers were gone, I forced Carmen away and went back into this human form. All I could do was stand there and stare at his mangled body. I was covered in blood, practically from head to toe, and there was blood all over the yard. It stained the grass and the picnic that was supposed to be the good end to the day. I was stunned and I couldn't do anything. Bri didn't have neighbors at the time, so it was silent. I had been crying. Then, Bri showed up and everything went south. She cursed at me, screamed and held her dead son, rocking back and forth. Her husband was incredulous as the both of us. I knew exactly what I had done, and I had no way to explain it._

Aimee was crying, the tears slipping carefully down her face, but she made no move to wipe her eyes dry of them. "Bri told me to get out of her life and to never return, that she never wanted to see me again. I was so plagued with grief that I obeyed. I haven't seen her in almost eight years, even when I visited his grave on the anniversary of his death and on his birthday. Showing up twice a year to that headstone has been my agenda, no matter what part of the world I am in."

Loki had listened intently the whole time. "Carmen killed him, though."

"No, I killed him." Her lip quivered slightly, and she prayed Bri was listening. "I loved that little boy so much. I would have put a bullet in my head for him. I could have taken control back from Carmen at the time, but I didn't because I thought she could handle it. I was wrong."

"If you had the opportunity, would you go back and change what you have done?"

She allowed the thought to sink in, allowed her mind to process a proper answer. "…No. Even if I could, I don't believe there is much that I could change. At the time, it had been either turning into Carmen in attempt to save us both or allow me to be slaughtered and Lucas kidnapped or killed. I didn't want to risk it and it's a mistake I regret." She wiped furiously at her face to get rid of the tears, sniffling and chuckling a bit, "Yet, the funny thing is that Tony and Remy have both forgiven me. While I appreciate it, it's not the forgiveness I want. I just want Bri to forgive me. If she won't, then she can feel free to kill me."

It truly was something she regretted doing, because she hadn't been able to do anything else about the situation. She valued her own life, but she had turned into Carmen to try and save them both. She desperately wanted Bri to forgive her for the horrible thing she did. She had tried multiple times to end her own life, attempted it through many different methods. It was incredulous how low she had gotten, but loneliness combined with severe depression and nightmares did that. She had not told a soul of such things because none of those things had ever been a success, obviously. Carmen had kept her from killing herself, something she both hated and appreciated at the same time.

Loki pursed his lips, watching her with his bluish-green gaze, and he sighed. "I do not see you as a killer, even though you were obviously trained to do such things. I find it difficult to believe you would want to remove yourself from this planet."

"Yeah, I found it hard to believe at first, too." She answered, glancing to the door as a loud bang began to sound on it. "But the more I tried to convince myself the world would be better off without me, the more enticing the idea became and the more I tried to succeed in it. Carmen isn't fair, though, so I gave up a few years ago."

"Well…" He hesitated a moment, "I am glad you have not killed yourself."

"And why is that?" She couldn't see any reason he would be glad.

The volume of his voice dropped and he grabbed her by the neck, practically pulling her on top of him and whispering in her ear, "Because I never would have gotten the pleasure to meet you." At her stunned silence, he continued, "I am vengeful and I intend to take the planet Thor adores so much as compensation for the things he has made me suffer throughout our childhood and beyond. I believe it to be a fitting punishment and I would love to see you fight against me. There is a monument in Manhattan where I will wait for you and where I shall unleash my army. It has the Iron Man's name plastered across it."

"Stark Tower…"

He pulled back enough to look her in the eyes, placing a finger on her lips. "Shh. Do not tell any of them. Let them figure such puzzles out on their own." He gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "Off you go, beautiful. I wait eagerly for the moment we meet again."

Aimee was still stunned, but pulled herself back and stood up. She lingered there for a moment, then turned and went to the door of the cage as it opened, slipping back out as it closed. She needed to think and she headed to the steel door. Punching a few buttons on the keypad, the door opened wide and Steve fell through, landing on the floor in front of her. She raised an eyebrow at his form, making the connection that he had probably tried to shoulder his way through the door and had almost succeeded. He probably would have done so had she not opened the door when she did. It was a good thing, too, and she almost chuckled.

Lifting her gaze, she found Nick and the others glaring at her. She knew she would be in trouble, but she wouldn't have risked it if she had thought they would remove her from the team for it. Her face was hard, her expression cold, and she revealed nothing to them through what was on her face. Neither her eyes nor her mouth told them anything that they wanted to know. She had intended on gaining some information from Loki and she had done just that. She wanted to tell them what he had told her, but she kept her lips sealed. She was curious, and she also knew that they were smart. They would solve the puzzle on their own. Loki wanted a monument built to the skies with his name plastered on it, and he had it. It just wasn't his name.

She maneuvered into the hallway and faced all of them, opening her mouth to speak, to explain herself. Before she could, Bri approached her rapidly and struck her across the cheek. The pain was immediate and brought tears to the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them away. Her mouth was gaped open with surprise as she held her cheek and rubbed it slightly, attempting to push the pain out of her skin. She knew the skin would be bright red and have a print on it. It was cold too, and stung with the effect of ice. She had basically freezer burned her cheek and it ached like Hell. Within a matter of a minute, though, the icy bite went away and the redness of her skin vanished.

Aimee licked her lip slowly in thought. She deserved that and she knew she did. It was nothing compared to what she would allow the red-headed woman to do if she would give her the chance. Everyone stared with wide eyes at the ginger, but especially because the brunette did not do anything in retaliation. There was a specific fury in Bri's eyes, one that burned hotter than the Hellfire Carmen was made of, and she feared her. There was nothing worse than a mother's wrath in the world, especially when you were the one to kill her first-born child. Her heart ached horridly for the woman and she turned her face to the side in shame, finding the others –including Loki—watching them with something akin to expectance.

"How _dare_ you," She spat, "_how dare you…_tell him about that day?"

Aimee took a moment to answer carefully. "I had to tell _someone_. I've kept it bottled up for eight years. It's been killing me."

"_Killing _you?" Bri scoffed, setting her hands angrily on her hips. "You killed my first-born son, you bitch! How can that be killing you? Have you ever thought of how it affected me?"

A spark flew in her chest, and she got dangerously close to her face, causing her to step back slightly. "Every goddamned day! Every fucking day…I think about what I have done to you. I think about what I did to Lucas. I loved that little boy so much! I know I killed him! I have admitted that!"

"You are a murderer! You don't deserve my forgiveness!"

"Then don't give it to me." She shrugged, but didn't remove herself from where she stood. She could be far more aggressive than Bri. "If you don't feel I deserve it, then don't give it to me. Kill me, instead, because I haven't been able to do it myself."

Shock weaved into the expression upon her face. Her eyelids fluttered in surprise and she attempted to gather the words to speak. It didn't seem she could, because she had not known. That was one thing she had always kept a secret. She had never told anyone she had tried to kill herself, except Loki and, at this point, now everyone knew. They must not have been listening or must have been trying to get through the door when she had explained it to the God of Lies. Her heart felt for that man, so she had not been afraid to tell him, though she tried to tell herself that he was going to fail and probably die at the end of this mess anyways. It was a secret she did not tell lightly and it spoke volumes.

"I got very low." Aimee emphasized the words, tears dripping from the corner of her eyes. "I tried poison, knives, and throwing myself in front of a bus. I've put the opening of a gun to every square inch of my head and pulled the trigger time and time again. Carmen will not allow me to die, but maybe she will make an exception for you." She hastily pulled the gun from her holster and forced it into Bri's hands, molding them around the weapon and resting it against her forehead. She let go, and waited. "Go ahead, because I know you want to. You would be doing me and everyone else a favor."

Loki gazed on helplessly, waiting for the sound of the gun, waiting for the shot to reverberate off the walls of ship. His heart pounded painfully and he yearned to escape his cage, protect her from the bullet that was mere inches from entering her brain. He didn't know if Carmen would stop the blasted piece of metal or not, but he prayed to the All-Father, a man he had grown to despise, that she would, whether it was by some miracle or not. For a long and tense few minutes, nothing at all happened. He waited, not a single muscle in his body relaxing, and he calculated the amount of time left that he had until his cavalry arrived.

Time seemed to slow, and the two girls never broke the gaze. Aimee's eyes were lit with flames and Bri's were flowing with turbulent waters, foaming at the edges as her emotions and mind toiled with many things. She seriously wanted her to do this and she was waiting calmly for her to pull the trigger. Aimee was growing steadily irritated, though, knowing she wasn't going to be able to. She knew Bri, even though they had been separated a long while, and the woman was far too docile to dare kill the one person she had once considered to be her best friend.

With a melancholic smile on her face, she laughed, "Yeah, I figured as much." She turned and walked away at a brisk pace, heading for wherever.

Bri looked at the gun. "She…"

Steve was at a loss for words as well. "I can't believe… Why would she…?"

Tony chuckled bitterly. "I forgave her a long time ago, dear sister, as did Remy. Now, do you see how badly she was ripping herself limb from limb over what she did to this family? You can't seem to look past the fact that your best friend killed your son _on accident._"

Tears had welled up in her eyes. "I didn't know, okay? Shit…I didn't know she was trying to kill herself. Had I known, I would have reconsidered my feelings a long time ago. I've been angry, but she doesn't deserve to die for what she did."

"Well, she feels that way." Nick told her. "Back to the lab, we have things we need to finish working out. It doesn't look like anything really interesting happened here. I doubt he told her anything."

Loki only smirked from where he stood inside the cage. He had told her something important and looked forward to seeing her there. He wanted to try and convince her of something, though he doubted she would change her loyalties to him. While she would be a useful ally, he had taken into consideration that she was technically a wolf. Wolves were extremely loyal and protective creatures, and those attributes had no doubt gone from Carmen to her. It was probably the thing that made her truly terrifying, because she was willing to literally risk anything for the people and things she loved. It made her very dangerous.

The door was sealed shut once more and everyone disbanded, returning to the lab where they had once been when they had discovered Aimee in the cage with Loki. She had gone into her room, sitting down on the bed and rubbing her head tiredly. It was quiet and peaceful, soothing to her mind. Something didn't seem quite right, though, and she couldn't put her finger on it. Loki had told her to meet him at Stark Tower, but how was he even going to get there? On his own, he was no match for all of them combined, so she did wonder. She pondered over it arduously. It was something that connected to what she thought earlier. Why didn't he try to escape when the others turned their backs on him?

She seemed to be given an answer when the Helicarrier was violently shaken about, and she identified the noise as an explosion. She heard shouts from outside her room, yet she didn't move from where she sat. She felt like she couldn't, like she was frozen in place as a sequence of horrifying pieces fell into their designated place. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest and she got to her feet, bolting from her room and running into a few of the younger agents. She excused herself and took off towards where she guessed the explosion had come from. It was one of the wings, and she quickly scurried down the stairs into the area she knew.

Smoke billowed out in volumes, but it did nothing to her. Breathing in smoke was like breathing in oxygen to her, another effect Carmen seemed to have on her. She made her way through the smoke and stepped through it, almost stepping off the ship. She grabbed a piece of metal and saved herself, then surveyed the damage. There was a large chunk of the ship that had been blown off, the steel and wires ripped from it. She could see the turbine engine from where she stood as well, seeing that it had been damaged and the turbine had stopped moving. There was a sudden panic in her veins; if one more went down, the whole ship would go to the ground.

"Aimee!" The mechanical-sounding voice was familiar to her and she turned to find Tony there in his suit. "Care to help me in clearing out this debris?"

She nodded and he grasped onto the collar of her clothes, lifting her and setting her on the edge of the inside of the turbine. She pointed, "All of this?"

Tony nodded in confirmation. "I have to get some of the inside things sorted out. Just promise you won't fall to your death, all right?"

Aimee rolled her eyes, but agreed anyways. She stepped out onto one of the blades, holding her arms out to keep herself balanced. However, as she glanced out at the massive piece of steel and other materials in front of her, she knew she wouldn't have the mass to knock it out. Sighing, she closed her eyes and connected mentally with Carmen. She was terrified with what she was about to ask her, for it was something that she hadn't done in so long. It was scary to suddenly need that again, and many realizations came to her at that point. She needed the wolf, as much as it pained her to admit such things. She had never wanted to need Carmen, but she did. She wouldn't be able to do this sort of thing –fight for her world and save lives—without her.

_Carmen, please…_

"_**You need not ask, child. Take the power; you need it more than I right now."**_

The fire flowed into her veins at an alarming speed and her bones began to expand, the muscle following and stretching over them to fit. Her shape changed from that of a human to a wolf. She grew to the size of thoroughbred horse and then about twice the size of that. The fur was ebony splashed with tribal markings of ruby red. Her eyes were alive with fire, burning and blazing, but she was clumsy in this form. Her paws felt awkward and large and her head felt too heavy for her to keep lifted, but she did so anyways. She took one easy step after another, and then crouched down. The muscles in her legs and haunches coiled like springs, then released.

Aimee was in control, moving and seeing through the body of Carmen. She leaped and landed upon the massive piece of debris. It groaned strenuously beneath her weight and she bounced on it a few times. It cracked and she repositioned herself carefully, and then bounded down on it with full force once more. It snapped from underneath her and suddenly wasn't there for her feet to hold onto, but she scrambled to hold onto the nearby blade. She pulled herself up and onto the flatter surface of the blade. There was a blast of fire and Tony was near her, hovering a few feet away. Either it was out of caution or just because.

"Impressive. You finally decided to suit up with the rest of us, eh?" He said. "Rogers has my back, now. You should go check out other things to make sure everyone is all right. They might be able to use your…girth."

She let out a rough bark, representing a laugh, "I will go assist someone else, but you need to be careful. Whoever caused this is in for my teeth."

"As I expect. Go, now! I'll take care of getting the propeller started."

She nodded her massive head and bounded with ease from the blade, landing in the hallways. As tall as they were, she nearly touched the ceiling, but was able to move freely as she began to run about in them. Her nose was in the air, drinking in the scents she did and did not know. Those she did not know were tracked down and killed without hesitation. Killing them was the best option, honestly, and she wouldn't let anyone else get hurt. The stench of blood was overwhelming, though, and it made her almost dizzy. She refused to lose herself and clung to the weakening tendrils of sanity.

When someone saw a giant wolf coming down the hallway at them, the reactions were always different. Some screamed and ran, others shot at her, and some just stood there to stare at her with mouths open wide. Most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents knew who she was and didn't do anything to distract her or themselves from their mission. In fact, they worked with one another, helping each other in the desperate time of need. It had come so suddenly, and it was one of those things that forced them together. It was incredible what could be accomplished through such things. It was a compelling force tied together by threads of steel.

Her ears twitched at a certain ruckus, and when she glanced to the side she found Thor in a wrestling match with the Hulk. Panic struck her. How had the Hulk been released? Had that been Loki's intention? Most likely, and she could understand why. On his own, the Hulk had the ability to rip the entire ship limb from limb without fatigue. The only problem was the fact that his strength seemed to be infinite and that could be a problem, because even Carmen tired after a long while. Then again, the Hulk wouldn't last forever. The only thing to be done at that point would be to hold him off in a corner until Banner regained control or the Hulk got tired of the games.

Aimee positioned herself with her head held high and her legs firmly on the ground. Her lip curled back over her gums, long and sharp white fangs revealed in their menacing rows. A snarl tore from her throat and it caught the attention of the Hulk, who spun around to look at her. He tossed Thor aside and loosed a roar at her, which only received one from her in return. He came at her with his fists closed, intending to slam her into the ground of the Helicarrier. Lowering her head, she crouched a ways, her muscles bracing for the impact.

The Hulk came down on her with such force that she almost couldn't gather her bearings fast enough. She sprung from the ground and vaulted with him onto the floor above, where there was no one to harm. He clasped his hands tightly around her ribcage and squeezed, gaining a squeal as a few of her ribs began to crack. Snarling, she swatted him aside with a huge paw, and then snapped at his limbs with her fangs. She only had to keep him occupied until he could be thrown off the ship. So, they bantered back and forth in the same room.

Glass shattered and metal bent, creaking and groaning beneath their strenuous girth. It was only the sound of a plane engine that made her stop, then scramble to the side and hide in the tuck of the wall. She watched the Hulk be fired upon by the machine gun of the hover plane that waited just outside in the wishbone. After a few seconds of firing, the Hulk grew tired of it and leaped from the ship, landing on the plane and more than likely taking it down. She prayed the pilot would be able to escape alive. As much as she respected Bruce, death by the Hulk was certainly no way for an innocent man to die.

Exhausted and still in the wolf form, Aimee limped her way from the room and made way into Loki's chambers. Once there, she found the cage gone, a hole in the wall, and Phil on the ground against the wall. A Phase 2 gun was resting in his lap and his body was limp, blood seeping through the light blue shirt that he wore. Nick crouched in front of him, his head hanging in shame. He looked up at her when she entered the room, shrinking in size so that she was only about as tall as Nick, and he resting a comforting hand on her shoulders as she lay beside him. Her gaze was sorrowful, but she could only clench her jaw tightly.

Nick's voice sounded in the ear pieces of each of their ears, _"Agent Coulson is down."_

"_The medical team is on the way."_

"_They're already here." _ His tone was somber. _"They've called it."_

Phil was dead.

Lifting her nose back and cracking open her muzzle, she released a howl filled with a mixture of emotions. Pain and sorrow were only two of them, but as were anger and a need for vengeance. She stood and carried the howl on, raising its volume in hopes of Loki hearing it from wherever he was. He would pay for this and she would make sure of it. When the howl was finished, she cut it off angrily and stalked over to the control panel. She slapped it with one of her paws and the drop for the cage opened wide. The wind whipped through the room, causing people to stop and stare at her.

"Aimee, what are you doing?" Nick cried over the screaming zephyrs.

Her eyes blazed. "I am avenging a friend."

With a roar, she bolted at the opening and jumped into it, sucked out to fall through the open air.


	6. I'm Alive

| 6 |

| . I ' M . . |

Nearly thirty-thousand feet of open air had awaited her before she even leaped out of the Helicarrier, but she had taken that into consideration moments before she had jumped. It was a fall she could easily survive, especially in Carmen's body, but only because there was water beneath her. It was one of the bays just outside of Manhattan, though even from this distance, she couldn't tell which side of the bridge she would land on, or if she could even land on the bridge itself. She prayed not, for her current size would leave a rather large hole in the asphalt and steel rebar that made up the bridge. Not to mention it would probably claim more than a few lives, something she didn't want to live with.

Falling through that much air was strange. There was nothing to hold onto. At first, there was a major rush, but after the first ten-thousand feet, it became rather dull and monotonous. All she could feel was the rushing wind in her face that was flattening her fur –probably more than a steamroller could—and the anxiety in her belly to hit the water already. Her element was fire and water could put it out easily, but she had tactics where she could shut down the fire for a time. It would leave her enough room to swim to shore or hop upon a boat and ask for assistance in getting to shore, which would no doubt scare a few people.

Phil's death had enraged Aimee, and she was seeing more than red. That man had never deserved to die. He had never done anything wrong against his country or against his friends and family. If anything, he was the most innocent of all of them. What had he done to earn a hole in his chest? For a long while, she had only regarded him as another one of Nick's flying monkeys, which was a term she used to describe Phil and Maria, but even now she realized what he was. He was more like the glue; the one everyone liked and could get along with. Essentially, Phil Coulson was the one that had kept them together.

Occupied with her thoughts, the mass of blue (slowly turning an ugly shade of green) water had gotten much closer. She was only about a thousand or so feet from it and even from there she could see the confused and somewhat interested points of civilians and tourists. She would be the least of their worries, as far as she could see it, especially that Loki would probably succeed in summoning the Chitauri here. He had planned his attack rather perfectly, at the moment when all of their tensions were on high. She assumed he came straight to the tower as soon as he had finished escaping. It irritated her that they had fell prey to such an attack.

Aimee opened her muzzle wide and sucked in a deep breath, inhaling in oxygen until her lungs stretched and ached slightly. She then closed her jaws tightly, plugging her ears and nose the best she could since she didn't have the use of hands. The water came quickly and it was cold. She plunged deep into its depths, the light from above all but completely disappearing from her sight as the filthy liquid managed to slow her rate of descent. It felt grimy in her fur and even though she knew it was only algae, basically harmless plant life, it still disgusted her. She had never particularly cared for open bodies of water –pools she could handle—and at least she knew why.

As soon as she stopped sinking, she began to float and she kicked her massive paws harshly to reach the surface. Since she was not so accustomed to swimming in this form, it took some time, but she eventually broke the surface, spraying water and spooking the daylights out of a couple fishermen a few feet from her. They practically dropped their poles in the water and stared at her. She stared back, but she was not looking at them. Instead, she was far more interested in their boat. It was a small speedboat, but would be able to hold her weight. It could get her to shore with ease, probably dry her off along the way, but she wondered if the men would be up for it.

"Hey, excuse me!" She spluttered as she paddled to the edge of their boat. "I need to reach the shore. I have to make it somewhere, and fast. Can you get me there?"

_**"They may be too stunned at your form to answer."**_

Ignoring Carmen, she waited for an answer, but the men were silent. It took a few minutes and her patience paid off. A short, balding man answered her, "Are you…going to eat us?"

"Ew, no. I'm not a cannibal." Aimee's mutter seemed to surprise them. "I'm an agent working for the government division known as S.H.I.E.L.D. There is a man in Manhattan who is threatening the security not just of the US, but of the entire planet. Please, I have to get to shore and keep him at bay until my comrades show up. Do you know Iron Man and Captain America?"

The other guy nodded. "Yeah, I respect 'em for what they've done."

"They're friends of mine, and I'm on their side. Will you give me a lift?"

The pair of them exchanged a doubtful glance and she could understand their worry. After all, it wasn't every day a giant wolf fell out of the sky and scared the day's catch away. It was a moment or two before they agreed to it and she clambered into the boat. At least her size had shrunk a ways and she wasn't twice the size of a thoroughbred anymore. It would give the engine some relief. She sat down thankfully and slipped a bit as the boat went towards shore at full speed, her claws unable to keep any substantial grip on the hard floor. The wind easily dried her fur, but tendrils of the ends were left wet, which kept her cool.

When the men parked the boat close to the docks, she wasted no time in thanking them and bounding onto the wooden planks. Nodding once, she took off and ran along the docks, which were as close to the Stark Tower as they could have gotten her. It wasn't long before she made it out of the marina and into the streets. Her appearance received shrieks and even screams from some of the people in those streets, which didn't surprise her, but she had to ignore it in order to reach her destination. Glancing about, she increased her size so she could increase her speed, and then she bolted down the asphalt.

Aimee bounded in between cars, easily dodging the damageable steel frames, and came closer to the Stark Tower. When it was in sight, she couldn't help but increase her speed to the fullest it could go. She exploded through the doors and went right for the stairs. The people were already terrified, which only indicated to her that Loki was already there, but they seemed to relax a bit when they saw her. She stopped and surveyed the damage. There were a few things broken, but there didn't seem to be any scents within the first floor that were missing. Every scent she found still had an owner. The fear-scent was overpowering.

She looked to one of the secretaries. "What floor is he on?"

The woman scrambled for words, "I-I—He's on th-the t-top floor…in Mr. S-Stark's personal area. Th-That m-man, L—"

"Loki." Aimee finished it for her calmly. "He's waiting for me?" When the petrified woman, who had to be no more than twenty-five years old, only nodded, it made her sigh. "Listen to me: get underground. Evacuate the building and hide in the subway and make way out of the city. This man is extremely dangerous and while you may not understand everything yet, you will. I can almost assure you it'll be all over the news. I will take care of Loki. Don't worry about me; just go! Tell people to use the stairs, not the elevator."

She barked the last order harshly and the people had no problem hustling to their feet. The woman who she had spoken to called the orders out over the intercoms. Aimee left her with that and went to the elevator. It opened for her and she shifted back into her human form, stepping in and hitting the button for the top floor she had visited so many times. As the sleek silver doors closed, she did everything in her power to calm her breathing. She had leaped out of the Helicarrier, been transported to the marina, and ran all the way to the tower. Not to mention she had basically fought the Hulk and removed a massive piece of metal from a turbine engine on the ship.

She was beyond exhausted.

Aimee didn't know why she had come, least of all without telling anyone where she had gone. It would probably piss them off. Perhaps her curiosity, something she had always firmly believed to be for cats, had truly gotten the better of her this time. Maybe it would kill her, as ironic as that was. She had many questions, all of which she desperately wanted answered. Why had Loki told _her_ where he was going to be? What did he want to tell her? What did he want with her at all? She didn't understand anything and a number of answers came to her mind, but she didn't know which could be true. There was something else, though. There was a fiery need to vengeance in her chest. She wanted to maul Loki for killing Phil.

She wanted more than to maul him, really. There were so many torturous things she could put him through that she couldn't keep track of them at this point. She was just so angry, so blinded by her rage and her pain. She was sad, too, because Phil had been a close friend among Steve and Tony. She always seemed to make better friends with men than with women, but she didn't care. She had known Phil well and it was rather lucky that no one but his friends had to suffer for this loss. There had been no love interest and no immediate family. To her knowledge, his parents were long dead and he had no siblings, but S.H.I.E.L.D. had lied to her before, so what did she really know?

Her heart was in her throat as she neared the top floor. A part of her wanted to join Loki's side, though, and it was threatening to tear her in two. She hardly understood her feelings, but could only assume that she held affections for the man, something she had never wanted in the first place. She had been told many years ago, however, that such feelings can develop whether it's wanted or not. Even though she hadn't wanted it, it had happened and now she was conflicted in whether to kill him or to join his side. The latter was a lot less likely to happen. She couldn't kill him, because she felt for him. Was it love? She didn't know, but that's kind of what it felt like, the awkward bubbling in her chest and stomach.

The bell dinged and the doors opened. She stepped into the flat, which she cared not to look around. Loki was standing outside on the rather large balcony that surrounded part of the upper area of the building. The wind tugged at his hair and at his trench coat, but horns were absent, which meant he wasn't quite ready to fight yet. The breeze carried his scent to her through the open door and she waited in the center of the room, breathing it in. It was a comforting and almost intoxicating scent, dragging several primal instincts to the surface that she pushed away. She wanted answers and she would make sure she got them before the others showed up. It was only a matter of time until they figured it out.

Loki paced back inside upon seeing her, halting a few feet away. "You came."

"And you're a fucking bastard." Aimee spat furiously. "Phil didn't deserve to die."

"Who?"

"The man you struck down in the cage room, dumbass."

He raised an eyebrow. "That imbecile? Did you care for him?"

"He was a friend, and he was a good man. You didn't have to kill him." Somehow, she felt there was a different meaning to his question; that he had wondered if she cared for Phil as more than a friend. Tears pressed at the edges of her eyes as she thought of the numerous deaths this man had already caused. She despised violence, but was not above such things when it came to something like this. She was much like a mother wolf, poised most of the time, but coiled to spring upon any attacker that threatened her pups and prepared to kill them without mercy.

"I believe I did. I was trying to make it personal."

"Yes, well, you succeeded."

Loki paced over to her, standing dangerously close. Dangerous for him or dangerous for her, she couldn't be so sure. She didn't want to attack him nor did she want to join him. She was a mess of emotions right now and she supposed that was the point. She was supposed to feel full of turmoil because he had intended to do so to everyone. It made her wonder, though, if the feelings of care she seemed to have for him were real or fake. It almost angered her to think that he had toyed with her emotions to make her feel that way. She was irritated because she wanted those feelings to be genuine, whether it was for him or for someone else. Bri had always warned her to stay away from a fake relationship.

"You are conflicted about your feelings, and you have many questions." He was standing inches from her now and she felt her heart want to explode from her chest, but she could hear his heart as well, and found it about the same speed as her own.

"I think many could be an understatement." Aimee brought the question she found most important to the forefront of her mind. "Are…are these feelings genuine? You're not toying with these feelings?"

He set his scepter aside, carefully cupping her cheeks in his hands. "Why would I toy with such delicate and powerful things? It only breeds doom for the one tampering. Better yet, why would that be the first question you ask of all the others in your head?"

For a minute, she couldn't answer, not wanting to believe what she was saying, "Because I want it to be real. I shouldn't, but I do. You're the villain. I'm the heroin…ish person. It's not supposed to work like this."

"Yet sometimes it does. The feelings are real…and they are mutual." He murmured, pulling his hands from her face and holding her shoulders securely. "But I suppose you will still refuse to join me even because of those feelings?"

Aimee gave a melancholic smile, shrugging his hands away and taking a simple step backwards. "Sadly, it's not in my place to change sides. Once loyal, always loyal. You can still stop, though, can't you? It's a mess we could easily avoid."

"No, it isn't. It must happen." His tone and mood had soured. "There is only the war."

She furrowed her brow, frustrated. "If that was your answer all along, without any hope of me changing your mind, why did you ask me to be here before the others?"

He seemed to think about it for a moment. "Well, I was hoping you would change your allegiance, but since I knew that was a very small chance…I suppose I brought you here for no reason in particular."

The fire began to bubble inside of her and she couldn't help but want the transformation to proceed. However, she knew she needed to wait for Tony to show up, because she knew he had figured it out by now. Instead, she stepped back and paced over to the bar the man had set up in the room. Stalking behind it, she pulled out three glasses, then a few different types of alcohol. She mixed them in one of the glasses and tasted it every few moments. Eventually it became a decent mix and she put it into only one of the other glasses. Then, she waited, for it was the only thing she needed to do until Tony arrived. She smiled when she smelled him on the wind, allowing his machine thing to pull the armor off of him.

"I am here to threaten you." Tony stated simply to the God as he walked behind the bar next to Aimee.

"Well, you should have left your armor on for that."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "It's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got the Glowstick of Destiny…" He gestured to the glasses. "Care for a drink?"

Loki tilted his head slightly. "Stalling me won't change anything."

"Not stalling," Aimee corrected, breaking from her glass a moment, "threatening."

Loki, slightly irritated, turned towards the window, then turned back, "What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers." Aimee stated, pouring more of the mix into another glass for Tony.

Tony looked at him and made a face, "It's what we call ourselves. Sort of like a team. Earth's mightiest heroes, type-thing."

He smirked. "Yes, I've met them."

"Yeah," Tony chuckled, "takes us awhile to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But, let's do a headcount here."

She started while mixing herself another glass; the alcohol would have little effect, it just tasted good. "Your brother, the demigod, the Super Soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend, a crazy cat lady, whose daughter's life you inadvertently threaten."

Tony was fixing small bracelet-like objects upon his wrists, which were used for the Mark 7. "A man with breathtaking anger management issues, a couple master assassins, a girl with an inner demon that has it out for you, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

Loki smiled. "That was the plan."

"Not a great plan." Tony muttered after a swig of the elixir. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army."

"We have a Hulk." His blatant statement made Aimee smile, giving a small chortle.

"Well, I thought the beast had wandered off," Loki made a movement with his staff to the city, signaling that the Hulk was somewhere out there, far off perhaps.

"Yeah, you're missing the point," Tony's tone was rising, "There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. _Maybe_ your army comes and _maybe_ it's too much for us, but it's all on _you_. Because if we can't protect the earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it."

Loki glanced to Aimee for confirmation of this and she only gave him a solemn and serious expression in return. Angered by the fact that this was true, he seized Tony by the throat and dragged him closer to the window. Tony dropped the glass and gargled, "Anytime now JARVIS."

"You will all fall before me." Loki growled.

"Deploy! DEPLOY!" Tony shouted as he was chucked through the glass.

A small capsule of ruby red shot from a display on the opposite side of the room, barreling past Loki and knocking him on his side. The glass shattered into dozens of tiny pieces as the capsule shot through it and downwards, intending to open and catch Tony before he became the next pancake on the sidewalk. Aimee didn't worry, knowing that even though the Mark 7 was not supposed to be ready for use, Tony would risk using it anyways. It was the only way he could ever get his suits to work in the first place. Most of it had worked, obviously, but even at this point in time, there was little room for mistakes. If he had not deployed the machine, he would have died.

Loki turned to find Aimee still there, not having leaped out of the window in desperation to save her friend. Tony flew back up, "And there's one more person you've pissed off. His name is Phil."

With a snarl, Aimee's body shifted and the girth of the black wolf hurled herself over the counter. Iron Man disappeared from sight and judging from the not-so-far-off sounds, the army had finally come through the portal. Her fury practically shone through every emotion mixing in her eyes as she snapped her jaws viciously at Loki, her teeth colliding with a metallic clang. She was barely missing his skin, his limbs, and even his hair. She wasn't intending to bite down on him, though, because if she did, then she wouldn't let go. She was angered for his actions against S.H.I.E.L.D. and against Phil. She wasn't intending on letting it go so easily.

Her paws thundered against the tile, crushing it into many pieces and leaving a distorted footprint in their wake. The shards threatened to cut the pads upon her feet, but she was too occupied to care. Loki was careful in dodging her every strike as she basically turned in circles around the room. At one point, she tackled into him and smashed him through the nice glass coffee table. While she was sure Tony wouldn't appreciate her breaking his expensive flat decorations, she was sure he could afford more. The couch was ripped apart by her claws, the paintings and vases swiped to the ground by her tail, and the walls dented as she rammed into them.

There was a dull groaning from far off, but it was not in the Earth's atmosphere yet. It alarmed her, though, because whatever it was, it was big and very dangerous. Loki smirked at her triumphantly and she growled, lashing out at him only to have her shoulder hit with his staff. There was a large gash there, fur singed and smoking as though it had been burn. It stung. Tony called for her in the earpiece she still had, asking her to join the others on the ground. Her face twisted with disgust, not yet finished with Loki, but she supposed she could wait. Saving Manhattan was far more important, as well as the world. Everyone else would have to get in line.

With a snort, she bounded through the glass of the windows and onto the balcony, springing off of it with ease. She was hurled towards the ground and landed on the asphalt carefully, damaging the concrete and a few parked cars. Most of the civilians seemed to be out of the way, underground and out of the line of fire. Chitauri crawled towards her, and she blinked, summoning a sleek black crystal to pierce each of their necks. They fell over, lifeless. Their far off comrades squealed with displeasure. Shifting back into her human form, she panted heavily and walked along the main road. She could see the others from where she was standing. As she was about to approach them, there was the groan again, but louder this time.

Aimee turned around and craned her neck to look up. A giant creature swam from the portal and into the atmosphere. It was a strange thing, like a cross between a turtle and a snake, but a lot more dangerous and armed. She gaped at it, her expression incredulous. She felt like she did when she first discovered she held Carmen within her. Though the wolf was much larger than the one descending from the sky, there was no doubt this would pose a challenge to them. She regained herself and paced backwards, ripping her gaze from the sky and backpedaling to where the team was. They all looked to her as she approached them, and Bri walked briskly up to where she was.

The brunette braced herself to be slapped again, but instead found herself enveloped in a warm hug, the arms holding her tightly and lovingly. They seemed to never want to let go, to hold on a little longer, praying that they would both make it through this. She could hear the small sniffles coming out of the ginger, the tears dripping onto her bared shoulder, stinging the open wound. While it ached horridly, she did not move, because she felt that Bri was healing it. Her tears had that ability, but she could also heal in other ways. Even when the wound was healed, she clung to her, and Aimee clung back, unsure of what else to do.

Bri released her and dropped her arms, pointing to her friend's shoulder, which was now only matted with dry blood, the cut no longer existent. "Did Loki do that?"

"Yes," She answered slowly, carefully, "but what was the hug for?"

"I forgive you."

"…What? Did you hit your head or something?"

She let out a laugh. "I suppose you could say that some sense was knocked into me. My forgiveness is long overdue, and you deserve it more than anyone else in the world. I'm sorry, Aim, that I treated you like that for so long… I just didn't want to let go."

"I know the feeling." Aimee smiled, joy flooding her chest, swelling inside of her heart. "We have a war to win, so let's get to it."

The pair of them paced over to the others, whom were trying to hide the triumphant grins on their faces. Even Natasha gave a small smile, glad the pair of them would be able to work together again. While fire and water could combat each other for ages, they worked best when they worked together. Fire would leave a searing trail and water would be there to remove the burns, but cause just as much damage. It was how they had been long before the accident with Lucas and it was how they had left a trail of devastation in their wake long before they joined S.H.I.E.L.D. They were better off this way, together as friends, fighting for the better side, and saving the world.

Tony buzzed in their ears, _"Tell Banner to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."_

As though on cue, Iron Man curved around the corner of a building. A split second later, the same creature as before that had swam out of the sky pursued him with an angry gleam in its ugly eyes. Its fins took out part of the building's walls as it came, growling and rumbling hungrily. Somehow, she assumed Tony had pissed it off. She had known the man long enough to know that anyone or anything that came after him like that had a grudge for a reason. Tony could be a very unlikeable person, especially if you didn't understand his mannerisms and twisted sense of humor. She was surprised he didn't get death threats more often.

"I don't see how that's a party…" Natasha muttered to herself.

Aimee grinned at her, "We have to give you a lesson in sarcasm after this."

As the beast approached, Bruce stepped closer to it, but Steve interrupted him, "Dr. Banner, now might be a good time to get angry."

Bruce glanced back at them, smiling, "That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry."

His form shifted, the clothes around his body shredding as the green skin forced them to give way and burst through. The creature was one step closer and Hulk pulled his arm back, lashing it at the beast's face with incredible speed and power. Its tail went up and over, head remaining in place. The metal armor around it snapped and groaned with the unnatural pressure being put on it. The skin tore open, revealing the soft and fleshy insides. The thing already reeked and now it did even more so than before. Tony blasted a missile into the skin and everyone braced. Steve grabbed Aimee's arm and hid them both behind the shield, avoiding any debris that came their way.

_ "I suggest you and Gabriella suit up."_ Tony murmured towards them.

Aimee heard Bri snort as she shifted forms; she always hated being called her first name, especially when her brother did it, because he did it on purpose. The brunette stepped away from Steve and changed her form as well, parting her jaws in a vicious roar. She was responding to the pained cries of the Chitauri and the Hulk followed suit, as well as Bri. The three voices rose in a minor chord, contradicting each other so much that it was noticed perfectly. Their faces were twisted with anger and determination, also a sense of confidence and slight madness. After all, no creature like them could be remotely useful if they weren't even a little crazy.

Their calls ended when the same groaning of the first creature came back, but with more oomph. Aimee flattened her ears and snarled with disgust, her red eyes turned to the sky to find more of the turtle/snake-like animals descending upon the city. There was a sudden doubt in her thoughts. What if they couldn't do this? There were so many of them already, but how many more could there be just beyond that portal? There was no way they could physically touch the portal. There was no doubt a barrier of energy around it and Erik was still under Loki's control, as far as she knew. The odds were stacked hilariously against them.

_'In what sense can we even win?'_ She questioned herself.

_**"You must have faith, Aimee. It is the only way you can win. You will win and Loki will lose. That is how these things work."**_ Carmen was chiding her. _**"But you MUST have faith and trust in your comrades. If you doubt ANYTHING, then you will fail."**_

__The wolf was right. If she doubted herself and her comrades, then they would surely fail to defeat the army. No matter how big and bad they thought they were, the Chitauri were merely ants to them. Fighting them would be like winning against a playground bully. It was as Tony had said: _"There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. __**Maybe**__ your army comes and __**maybe**__ it's too much for us, but it's all on __**you**__. Because if we can't protect the earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it."_ They would try to protect the earth. If they failed, they would avenge it. They would personally escort the God of Lies to the gates of Hell.

Steve took over. "All right, listen up: until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you've got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

Clint looked at Tony. "Wanna give me a lift?"

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas." With that, Tony grasped the back of Clint's shirt and went off into the sky, dropping Hawkeye on the roof as commanded.

"Thor," Steve went on, "you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow 'em down. You've got the lightning; light the bastards up."

Thor didn't say a word, spun his hammer and flew off towards one of the taller buildings.

He looked to Natasha, "You and me: we stay here on the ground. We keep the fighting here. Bri, get up on the rooftops with Barton. You've got eyes better than his, so get rid of them before they get near civilians."

Bri hissed and bounded to the rooftops easily, getting to work.

"And, Hulk." Hulk growled and turned to him. "Smash." He grinned and jumped away.

Steve turned to Aimee and laughed, apparently in the mood for some mild humor, "Ready, Aim? Fire."

Aimee shook her muzzle and bared her teeth, making a half-grin and half-grimace at the poor joke. "Really?"

"I couldn't help myself. Seriously, though, burn them to the ground."

She grinned and the antsy tingling in her paws was finally relieved. Her lips curled over her gums, showing off her gleaming white fangs. Her size grew, making her about three times the size of a fully grown Clydesdale horse. She struck the ground with her mighty foot and kicked up some asphalt. She was challenging the Chitauri that stalked closer to her, hesitating because of what she was. Every creature in the universe seemed to know about the Fire Pet of Odin, about her power and prowess in battle. Not to mention the temper she had, and how easily she could take something down. However, the person in control was not Carmen.

Aimee was far angrier than Carmen right now, and she would be a better one of the two to battle the aliens. She would be relentless. In her mind, they weren't people. She wouldn't regret hurting them later. It wouldn't matter if she took pleasure in sinking her large teeth into their throats, ripping them limb from limb as she attempted to save Manhattan, and the world that followed. There was something much larger at stake here. It wasn't her pride, her sanity, or even her good name, at least what was left of it. The only thing at that point she could fathom in doing was slaughtering the enemy.

She hated violence, but, this time, she would make an exception.


	7. Comeback

| 7 |

| . . |

Thoughts thundered through her head as she raged through the battlefield, shedding blood of a violet color and crushing bones not of this earth. Many times she had walked the line, laid down on it to allow someone else to crawl over her just so she could save them, and it was something she had done gladly. In those days, she had not been so reserved, so dangerously dark. She had been friends with Bri then. It had been before she met Remy, fell in love, married, and had her child. It was only seven or eight years after the latter fact that things had fallen apart.

There was no doubt that she had questioned herself, rolled the dice and questioned her own life. She had often lost track of those things. She often wondered what purpose she had in this world, especially when she was basically destined to live forever. What did one do when they lived forever? What did they live for? At one point, she believed she had found what she lived for, but it turned out to be something of false hope. She had fallen in love once herself, but with the wrong man. It had ended in disaster and near death for her and Bri. Since then, questions always rose, especially when Bri married. It was hard to accept that they couldn't really be just a dynamic duo anymore.

Aimee had sacrificed so much. Being disowned from the family she still loved so dearly had caused her so much pain and it had forced her to do things she wouldn't have done otherwise. She had to give up a home, money, food, and many other things just to make her family happy. They had wanted her to leave, but she had never had any other place to go. She hadn't told Bri in the beginning either, which had made her mad later on. Eventually, she was given a place to stay with Bri and Tony, which she had reluctantly agreed to. Even though she was in pain, she hated being a burden to everyone else.

It felt like that now. She could feel the pain she was about to cause, the pain she was about to suffer, and the burden she was about to be if she suffered too serious of an injury. She'd been down the road before, when the rain poured relentlessly upon her. It would soak her to the bone, chill her to the point of almost going into a coma, and to sink down lower than any human (or human-ish, in her case) ever should have to. In the end, it was the price that was paid. Everyone had to pay it. The civilians, the heroes, and the villains. She could see the agony of having to push past limits in the eyes of her comrades, and it made her ache.

It was the price that she paid.

_'I know how it feels to start again. There hasn't been anyone to save me in so long.'_ She violently tore apart one of the Chitauri. _'Is this what it feels like when the world is going to end? But they'll see… We will make a comeback.'_

Her thoughts reassured her. She dug into the ground with her massive paws, using broken rebar and asphalt as her weapons. She was conserving her energy for the bigger things that could come. She was preparing herself for the things that Loki would bring to them. She was ready to attack as she was now, but it felt as though the worst wasn't over. There was more to come and she knew it. They didn't know how vast this army was or what kinds of weapons they held. Honestly, the odds against them were ridiculous and winning seemed like a hopeless goal. They couldn't give up, though, because what other option did they have?

Her mind wandered. She pictured a graveyard, one filled with the dark pines and bright flowers rested upon the graves. Those flowers were the only sign of life in the area. There were other plants that were wilted and no creatures but the crows lingered. An eerie mist drifted between the headstones, the darkness amplified by the overcast skies above them. Each of the gravestones was engraved with their names. She could see each one was of a different font, with different sayings and titles upon them:

'Anthony Stark

Iron Man

A man of brilliance

A man with everything

DOD: June 7th, 2012'

'Gabriella LeBeau

The White Lily

A loving mother

A best friend

DOD: June 7th, 2012'

'Bruce Banner

The Hulk

He loved the world

And tried to change it

DOD: June 7th, 2012'

'Captain Steven Rogers

Captain America

A man of true honor

A man of true chivalry

DOD: June 7th, 2012'

'Natasha Romanoff

The Black Widow

Though a difficult person to love,

A good friend to most

DOD: June 7th, 2012'

'Clinton Barton

Hawkeye

The one to always see

What others could not

DOD: June 7th, 2012'

'Aimee Serasio

The Black Rose

Fiercely loyal to friends

Willing to draw blood in their defense

DOD: June 29th, 2012'

Her own was last, her date of death later than that of the others. In her mind, there was a sequence of images, the images portraying only one of many ways that this whole battle could turn out. It was a graveyard filled with dirt and with defeat. There was an unbearable weight on her soul that made her want to curl up in a ball in the middle of the road and cry. It was a place where fallen angels slept, resting among the ones that failed. She would watch them all die, wouldn't she? It was the only conclusion she could draw. It was Fate's way of punishing her for the things she had done wrong. Her crooked heart and those angels would meet at the crossroads.

These twisted images showed her that the haters would say her name, carve it in stone. She had watched them die; she had not saved them like she could have. Her heart wrenched at the thought of this, at the picture of herself lying in a hospital bed. She was writhing within herself, turning over with regret for not doing better. The world was being overtaken, her closest friends would be dead, and she had not done anything to change that fact. It felt like she didn't have anything or anyone to lean on at that point. Her thoughts hindered her ability to fight and she faltered in her footsteps. The Chitauri took easy note of this.

_'Is that how it will feel to never have a friend? Even when they're right here beside me?'_ She tried to snap herself out of it.

There was a nasty blow delivered to her side, which blew her off her feet with ease. One of the larger of their guns had hit her, sent her barreling over a few vehicles and into the guard railing of the bridge. Everything in reality came reeling back to her, pedaling through her head like a stampede of wildebeest, shoving the horrid images away and bringing her focus together. She took in a sharp breath, the smoky air piercing her lungs and the dirt causing her to squint. She laid there on her side, attempting to regain what bearings she had left. She soon found Steve standing over her, one of his hands rested upon her massive cheek.

"Aim? Aim? Are you all right? Come on, talk to me!"

With a fierce shake of her head, Aimee managed to get the words out, "I'm fine, Steve. I just… I just let my imagination get the better of me."

"You'll be fine. Just snap out of it; we need you." He murmured, petting her fur comfortingly, but glancing about to watch for the Chitauri.

"Steve…" The tears brimmed at her eyes again. "Steve, what if we lose? What if we all die? That's what I pictured, Steve! I don't want that to happen… I don't want to watch you all die, then follow suit…"

He looked at her with those sharp blue eyes, so beautiful and clear even in this condition. "We will not fall to Loki. If we go down, then we go down fighting and we go down with pride. We are not going to die, Aim. He's not going to beat us. Keep him out of your head."

Was this Loki? Was he messing with her head, inserting those crystal clear images that caused her so much pain? He did need her to be impaired, after all. She was probably his biggest threat alongside Bri and Hulk. The Hulk, however, could be suppressed and Bri, as strong as she was, had her limits. After having a child, her body would never be as strong as it should. She had been slacking on her exercise as Tabitha's host. By a long shot, Aimee was bigger, faster, and stronger than the both of them. Ultimately, if there was someone needed to be gotten rid of on the field, it was her.

Loki was very smart. If this was him, messing with her mind, showing her these things, then he had done a genius move. He seemed to know her intimately enough to get to her inner core, but how had he done it? He was a user of magic, unlike Thor. She had no doubt that he could get into her mind, her psyche and screw with it. It made her angry to know that, and he probably felt her fury too from wherever he was. She didn't like feeling so violated, especially after what that man from a long time ago had done to her. Mental rape was unacceptable and this form of it counted. Loki was making her believe things that weren't true.

_** "You are not psychic, you stupid, puny child! Loki is trying to hinder you!"**_ Carmen snarled in her ear, reinforcing her strength and energy. _**"Get up and fight!"**_

Aimee's lips twitched with amusement, a solution already working itself around in her head. She was going to get her teeth around Loki and show him the consequences for entering her mind unwarranted. He would regret doing what he had done, in the past and now. The lip curled back over the gums and she licked her teeth, shining them freshly with spit. The growl rumbled up her throat, rolling smoothly across her tongue, and tearing from between her fangs with a specific viciousness that was unmatched. Without warning, she launched herself at a Chitauri and burned him into cinders. She let out a triumphant snarl.

A scent suddenly caught her off-guard, invading her olfactory in an overwhelming manner. Through the stench of the city, which was a smoggy and toxic place, she caught the smell of Loki. He was with some of the aliens, something she was far from pleased about. Her lip curled in frustration. It would take quite a few skilled attacks to get him away from the aliens and to her so she was capable of fighting him. Slowly, a plan began to form itself in her mind. Unfortunately, it would not be something so easily pulled off, especially when she was by herself. She needed to employ the help of one of the others, though they all seemed too busy.

Reaching out with her mind, Aimee barked, _"Bri!"_

The response was delayed, but it came urgently, _"What is it? Are you all right? I caught your fear-scent. You ought to keep that to yourself in times like these."_

_ "For the most part, yes, I'm fine. I need your help, though. I have a way to pin Loki."_

She heard her friend yowl with joyous laughter, pleased with the suggestion. _"Tell me all about it! I am eager to give that God something he won't be able to get rid of."_

_ "Get in line." _ Her tone was serious, though light. _"I need you to freeze some of the aliens, let them fall to the ground and smash into pieces. Do the same to Loki and the aliens he is with. I intend on separating them before the ground becomes their demise."_

_ "What do you plan on doing with him?"_

_ "Whatever wicked things Carmen and I can come up with…"_

There seemed to be a moment of awkward silence, but she snorted and chuckled, _"Sounds good to me. May I be there to assist you in those wicked things?"_

_ "Most certainly, old friend."_

Several blocks away, there was a loud caterwaul, then screeching and the sound of something shattering effectively against the pavement. A grin spread across her maw and she leaped from the bridge she had been upon, trusting of Steve and Natasha being capable of protecting themselves. Her paws slipped on the loose gravel and the muck –mostly the blood of the Chitauri—that plastered the streets. There was devastation all around her and it was almost painful to see, considering she knew people were suffering from this and that she was a part of that destruction. She was also mostly the solution. It would be hard to accept they were taking lives, whether purposely human or not, but it was to prevent more loss.

_**"We're insane."**_

Aimee chuckled at Carmen, _"But not alone."_

The massive wolf spotted her dear friend atop the roof of a rather high building and she wasted no time in scouring the skies as the aliens fell one by one. She had to maneuver out of the way of many of them, not wanting to be impaled by ice, and had to fend off some of those whose attention they were attracting. She scented Loki once more and backed up as far back as she could go, bunching her legs up against a wall so she could use it as leverage. She watched Bri's form disappear so as to catch Loki by surprise, and it wasn't long before said man whisked close to them upon one of the alien vehicles. It was from there that she judged the amount of time she would have to complete her attack successfully.

The ice shot out at him in a beam that was far from expected. It enveloped him swiftly and ice was formed in jagged edges around them. It wasn't long before their speed dropped and they fell through the open air like a meteor. She waited in those seconds patiently for their bodies to reach the specific window before launching herself at them, using various piled-up cars to get there. Fire enclosed her fangs and she tore into the frozen water, ripping Loki from it as she propelled herself onto the high roof where Bri waited. She had to scramble through the sheer glass of the last few floors before she made it, ignoring Loki's pained cries and grunts.

Aimee tossed him with a snarl into a concrete wall, where there was a door that led into the building in it. He hit it and the breath seemed to be pulled out of him, his staff flying to the side where Bri secured it with a large foot. He grunted as he opened his eyes, surveying the odds utterly stacked against him. Aimee could feel Carmen squirming with delight underneath, eager to get her fangs around him, even if it had to be through her vessel. Fierce ruby and dazzling sapphire eyes traced the man's every movement as he struggled to get to his feet. The girls transformed back into human forms, wanting to take pleasure in what they were about to do.

"You…are both a pain in my posterior," Loki muttered unhappily, "and I grow weary of it."

Aimee grinned. "Good, because that was the plan. If we keep you focused on us and you lose, which is highly likely, then your little alien friends will be lost."

"And do we have some nasty tortures in store for you, little boy." Bri hissed.

Loki perked an eyebrow. "Little boy? You seem to forget the only thing old about you is that beast you carry, yet you are the better of this pair."

"Only sometimes." She responded, "Aimee has her moments."

"Yes, as I have observed." Loki drawled on, clearly intending to stall them from their intentions. "The two girls who grew up side by side, endured very similar hardships, and yet, the friendship ended, and then regained ground. Indeed, a very interesting pair of women you are. You love one another very much and would die for one another, am I not right? How interesting it would be to see one of you off your hinges if the other were to perish…"

Immediately, red flags went off in Bri's head. She could see that Aimee was too preoccupied with her irritation to have caught the innuendo he had been making. Fire burned in the back of her throat, making it dry and causing her tongue to feel like a clump of cotton in her mouth. Bile rose up and her nose crinkled at the taste. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest, wrenching each time it contracted. The expression on Loki's face said it all: he planned to kill Aimee, just to see what she would do. The brunette was his biggest threat. Bri couldn't let that happen.

_Remy can care for Rosemarie… Besides, Loki cannot kill me as easily as one would think. One wrong blow and Aimee goes to her grave. It's the only reason Carmen is as strong as she is._ Though she intended on doing something, it terrified her and would throw Aimee into a major fit of rage. _But we need that right now… Otherwise…we fail._

Closing her eyes, she allowed a memory to flash through her mind for old time's sake.

_She remembered it clearly. It had been one of her favorite days of all time and it had been before the pair of them had met Remy, before they had gotten involved with Giovanni. That man had caused them all sorts of pain, specifically Aimee, and almost killed them in the end. She was glad now that they were a part of S.H.I.E.L.D., but days before even them had been of a kinder and happier time. Even during her time of hatred towards her closest friend, she had gazed back upon these memories with a tender fondness. She wished she could relive them, maybe change a few things, but she wanted to be in the times when nothing really mattered._

_ Neither of them attended high school. They didn't need the education. They had other teachers, special ones, who taught them the things that they really needed to know. Those teachers had been a part of the division of the United States' government the pair of them were now involved in. They were originally intended to be used by S.H.I.E.L.D. as weapons or something else. It wasn't something they had known too much about; they had just been glad to receive the instruction they needed to be able to deal with what they now knew they were. It was a good thing, but it had also been a very strange and arduous process._

_ Learning about Carmen and Tabitha at first had not been easy. It had been hard to prove to them in the first place, but it had been managed. While Bri loved Tabitha, Aimee was having an extremely hard time with Carmen. The brunette couldn't seem to accept that she was harboring a blood thirsty monster just inside of her. Her family wasn't taking it so well and what friends she had had decided they were better off staying away from her. Bri knew Aimee, though, knew that she wouldn't hurt a fly unless it truly came down to the wire. She was the only one to remain by her side through the journey._

_ The other teens that they were being instructed by the same teachers with shunned her. They feared her, feared she would ultimately lose control and kill them all. Bri had always thought this to be a preposterous suggestion. She knew what Aimee was like; she was practically her sister. What real reason did they have to fear a girl they had known for years before Carmen was even revealed to them? She had wondered, too, why they didn't hate her as they hated her friend. When she asked, she was told that Carmen was a Goddess to be feared, but Tabitha was one to be worshipped. At the time, it had not been the answer she was looking for._

_ Bri had debated a long time on what to do. She really didn't know. Tabitha was helpful and cooperative, but, from what Aimee had told her, Carmen was not an easy female to tolerate let alone get the cooperativeness needed out of her. She had been walking one night in the meadows that surrounded the area they trained. It was nighttime, a cooler time of the day to enjoy a stroll. The stars were laid out above her, twinkling in a thick blanket of sparkling white and yellow with the occasional red and blue. The breeze was a biting chill and carried the fresh scents of the new spring daffodils and healthy green grasses._

_ It was calming to her and to Aimee. It was a fact she knew for sure and when her friend had not shown up for dinner that evening, she told the others not to worry because she knew exactly where she would be. She knew the others were not capable of worrying, but she didn't care about what they thought. When she had finished eating, Bri had immediately come to this place in search of her friend with a small, insulated container attached to her shoulder. In it was ice cream. Neapolitan, Aimee's absolute favorite flavor. She kept her nose wide open, following the scent trail of her best friend —practically her sister, though related in no way—had left behind._

_ It hadn't taken long to find her, sitting in the roots of a lone weeping willow that sat on the shore of a large pond. The water swarmed with fish of beautiful colors and the stones at the bottom could easily be seen, even at this time of day. The nightingales flitted among the branches of the trees, singing their sad melody, singing it to the girl in the roots. Aimee's knees were drawn to her chest, one arm wrapped around them and the other was held in front of her face. Her fingers twirled a delicate daffodil in between them. She adored this place and could often be found here, mostly because of the utter freedom it provided them. Moonlight washed over her pale form and the shadows moved as she let her knees down a bit, having sensed Bri long ago._

_ "It's gorgeous, isn't it?"_

_ "How did you know I was here?"_

_ Aimee glanced at her, a specific deadness in her pale blue and yellow eyes. "You were upwind. I smelled you about ten minutes ago. Is it beautiful, though?"_

_ Bri frowned; her eyes were only that color when her fire was truly dying. "The daffodil? Yes, it's stunning. It's our birth flower, but you're older by twelve days, so yours is ultimately better."_

_ There was a ghost of a smile that flickered across her friend's face. "I think you are far better than me in many ways."_

_ "But you're better than me in ways, too." She shot back, flopping down beside her and resting the cooler on the ground. "I refuse to let you believe you're inferior."_

_ Her tone was bitter, "You know I am."_

_ "You are not!" The yell garnered a shocked expression from the brunette, but Bri carried on, "You are so much better than everyone else in this godforsaken academy! You are talented in everything, especially in the art of fighting and understanding your power! You're delicate and you're beautiful! I don't care about Carmen! I really don't and that's because I know you! She is not what defines who you are and no one else here seems to understand that! Carmen is a worthless mutt who is only out for blood! You're the same best friend I've grown up with and none of that is about to change because of some mangy fleabag!"_

_ Aimee could only stare, her mouth agape and her eyes wide with surprise. Bri rarely ever got angry at her; it was usually at someone else who was being stupid. Although, as she allowed the words to sink in, she was able to see the effects of her actions and of the actions of everyone else. She wasn't pleased by the results. Just because people they trained with had learned about Carmen, Aimee had gone down the proverbial rabbit hole, bending every which way just to please them and make them like her again. However, she didn't really need them, did she? She had something better, something none of them combined would ever be able to replace:_

_ Her best friend._

_ Looking to the daffodil, she spoke, "Daffodils are beautiful and delicate, yet able to withstand the harsh heat of the sunlight every single day. Only when that fire dies do they recede, only coming back when the fire ignites."_

_ Bri smiled, "That sounds like us."_

_ "That's because it is."_

_ "You were always a whiz with poetry in middle school. Everyone always wanted your help on the unit." She chuckled a bit, smiling fondly at the memory. "But you would never give it to them, because they didn't know who you were. They only knew the name, not the face. You'd been so shy. I think, though, you could be a philosopher one day."_

_ Aimee arched a high eyebrow at her. "A philosopher? Really? I was thinking I could be a badass demon slayer one day, considering my powers and all."_

_ "Trying to correct wrongs that aren't even yours? Carmen is the bad one, Aim, not you…"_

_ "I know, it's just…sometimes I feel like I'm responsible, even when I'm not."_

_ Bri nodded, understanding how she felt about the situation. It wasn't exactly easy to learn and deal with the fact that you were carrying goddesses of massive proportions that could destroy an entire country without a problem. She sighed and opened the cooler, pulling the gallon tub of ice cream and two spoons from it. "I brought you something."_

_ "Ice cream! Oh, how was dinner?"_

_ She cracked the lid open, tossing her one of the spoons. "It was okay, but I suppose Chef Janna could do worse than her Barf Potato Stew."  
_

_ "That bad, eh?"_

_ "Yeah, but we have ice cream!"_

_ "Indeed we do!" Aimee grinned widely, and then held out her spoon. "To being best friends."_

_ Bri only lifted hers, clanging it against the other. "Forever?"_

_ Aimee smiled and nodded. "Until the end of time."_

Bri supposed the end of time was near, either for one of them or everyone. The latter would only happen if Loki were to win, which was the reason she needed to keep Aimee alive, even if she had to lose a life. Her death would infuriate Aimee enough to lose her control over her actions. She would go on a rampage and slaughter every enemy in her path to reach the one who had taken the life of her best friend from her. She knew Aimee and she knew that would be the exact reaction Loki would get out of her. Broken at first, rampage moments later.

"…I find it hard to believe you have merely tossed our relationship out the window."

Aimee's expression was furious. "What kind of relationship is it if you're condemning me to death?"

Loki smiled. "You can still join me, you know. With you on my side, I will most assuredly be crowned victor."

Bri, hardly understanding the context of the relationship part, cut in, "And you will most assuredly be crowned failure with her opposing your side."

He looked at her, seeming to understand that she had figured out his little plan, having seen her expression of realization. "You have not said much in the last few minutes, though remained attentive. Care to share your little story with us?"

"She doesn't have to share anything with you." Aimee growled, oblivious to the sudden connection the pair of them had. She walked over to his staff, prying it from Bri's foot, and flung it at him. "Fight, you coward."

As soon as the weapon was in his hands, Loki didn't hesitate to take a swing at them. The sharp edge of the blade barely missed them as it whisked above their heads and they sprang into action the moment afterwards. Bri leaped at him and aimed her fist for his face, instead striking his shoulder as he moved. The bottom of the staff struck her side and she was flung away from the pair of them with such ease that it surprised her, being thrown into the concrete wall of the small rise. She coughed; no wonder Aimee had gotten her leg shattered so easily. There was little doubt he was a match for the both of them, at least in this form.

Aimee seized the staff as it was swung at her again, grappling for it to be in her hands instead. She wanted him to lose, to have an advantage and lose it. She wanted to be able to gloat about it, and it was the only reason she gave him the spear back. His grip on it was strong, though, and he utterly refused to let go of it. Ducking slightly, he kicked out at her legs, but she jumped above them with her hands still on the spear. Taking the opportunity, he yanked on it once and threw her to the ground. He twisted it from her grasp and brought it back to hit her. When it didn't budge from behind him, he glanced there.

Bri had a firm hold just below the sharp areas of the stick. "I don't think so."

Her arm reared backwards and she lashed out at him, missing once more as he maneuvered his head out of the way. Aimee, however, kicked her foot up into his stomach and used her other leg to hook his knee and bring him to the ground with her. Rolling over, she bunched her fists together. He used the spear to bar her from hitting him. Their strength was evenly matched and the staff merely quivered between them as Bri watched precariously, waiting for something to go wrong. Aimee and Loki both shared an intense look, one that seemed aggressive yet held a specific tenderness to it that she couldn't identify the source of. The fire in Aimee's eyes had even dimmed a little.

"You are going to lose, beautiful." Loki taunted, intending to get under her skin, but there was truthfulness to his last word.

Bri perked one eyebrow curiously, though tried to use sarcasm to test her theory. "Beautiful? Aw, Aim, the villain has a crush on you."

Aimee's hold momentarily wavered, but she kept with Loki's calming green gaze rather than looking to face her friend. "Yeah, well…"

_Gods above…_ The ginger's jaw dropped in astonishment; no wonder there was a sudden softness to her fighting, because Aimee didn't want to hurt him. "You love him…"

The sweat from the strain of holding the same position was sheening on her forehead and in her hair. "I didn't say that."

Loki smiled. "But you do not need to. After all, who knows you better than your best friend?"

With an angered grunt, Aimee shoved the staff to the side and grabbed one of his arms, flinging him across the roof. There was a sudden defiance in her stature, wanting to prove that she didn't love him, even though she was pretty positive that she did. She didn't want to harm him. She had missed his flesh with her teeth and claws many times for a reason. It wasn't what her mind wanted, but her heart was telling her otherwise. He was right, though: who knew her better than Bri? Even if she had said it outright, she'd have come to the conclusion beforehand. She as hoping, though, that she could keep those emotions from clouding her judgment.

Loki remained still as she stalked towards him and Bri seemed paralyzed by the conclusion that had clearly been made. Aimee paused a moment, but was taken by surprise as Loki sprang at her without warning, trapping her between his chest and the staff, which grinded painfully into her lower back. One of his hands grabbed at her neck and he pressed the blade of the spear into her back, forcing her to move to the very edge of the roof. There was the threat of falling, but both of them would survive it. If he took her over, he would merely have enough time to kill her. Dogs didn't have extra lives, after all.

Bri launched herself closer, but Loki stopped her, "Tsk, tsk. You ought to know better than to endanger her life like that. Besides, am I not allowed to spend a moment longer with the mundane I have come to care for?"

"I'm not a mundane!" Aimee spat, her throat constricted further by his hand. She wondered where his earlier compassion had gone, but supposed the treachery of war would take it.

"What do you want?" Bri demanded, on edge.

"I want many things, including her, but you would never give her to me so easily." He repositioned his hand slightly, loosening it and more or less cupping the side of her face. "I will take this instead."

Loki very quickly and hastily pressed his lips to hers, shocking both women. His eyes were sealed tightly, not wanting to see the bewildered expression upon their faces. Aimee, too stunned to move, could only stare at him and found herself noticing things she probably shouldn't have. His lips were soft and gentle against hers, though cool to the touch in comparison to her extremely heated skin. She found the passion there. It was undeniable that he actually cared for her. While the same was true for her, she didn't know what to do. At least the others were not there to see this, because she knew Bri could keep a secret.

He pulled away carefully, finding her breathless and returning the same feelings he must have felt in those moments. However, he grasped the collar of her shirt and threw them over the side to plummet towards the street below. Bri cried out and quickly followed. Loki released Aimee in the last second and they hit the ground in different spots, feet from one another. Bri had lost her balance as she landed and Loki went after her in an instant. Aimee was dizzy from the kiss, but looked up in time to see Loki twist the staff in his hand and aim for the ginger. It was only when she heard the sickening crunch of the blade going through skin, bones, and organs that horror struck her and she screamed the word; it was drawn out.

"NO!"


End file.
